PF Justin Smith drew a foul with 6 seconds left, breaking a 70-70 tie and lifting host Canyons (2-6) to a two-point win over El Camino (4-3) Tuesday, breaking a 6-game losing streak for the Cougars.
Smith's free throws came after Canyons drained most of the clock following an El Camino turnover on a charging foul with 33 seconds left. COC took the clock down to 11 seconds left, called timeout and set up the final play: an isolation for Smith from the top of the key.
After the foul, Smith made the first FT. Then El Camino called three consecutive timeouts before the second shot, which Smith eventually made anyway. After another timeout - this one by Canyons - the Warriors had one last chance but SG Steve Peres' 3-point try (which might have been after the buzzer anyway) was well short.
Smith's FTs capped a Cougar comeback from an 8-point second-half deficit. And Smith had a big part in the tying basket, stealing an El Camino pass and getting the ball to SG Jason Holzwarth for a 3-pointer with 1:03 remaining that made it 70-70, the first time Canyons had drawn even since early in the second half.
El Camino had used an 11-2 run to take a 50-43 advantage early in the second half. PF David Vasquez scored 8 points during that run on a pair of FG+FT 3-point plays and a putback basket. El Camino held the lead after that until Holzwarth's 3-pointer with 1:03 left, and led by as much as 8 at 63-55 following a pair of free throws by SF Kris Lawrie with 5:44 remaining.
Canyons had led much of the first half, opening an 8-point lead at 27-19 before El Camino finished the first half on a 12-0 run to take a 31-27 edge at the break.
Oddly enough, the game served as a re-match of sorts as the Canyons football team defeated El Camino, 36-27, last Saturday in a Southern California playoff game.
Holzwarth led all scorers with 21 pts, which included 4 threes, and had 4 asts for Canyons. Ctr Brandon Bradley had 20 pts and Smith had a double-double with 14 pts and 10 rebs. PG Terrez Scott came off the bench and had 6 pts, 7 rebs and a game-high 8 asts for the Cougars.
For El Camino, Vasquez led the way with 18 pts, and he also had 5 rebs and 4 steals. Lawrie had a double-double with 15 pts and a game-high 11 rebs. Peres and Ctr Kelsey Chine each had 11 pts for the Warriors.
With the win, Canyons improves to 2-6 on the season. The Cougars had lost 6 straight games since a season-opening win over Grossmont. El Camino falls to 4-3.
box score
Tuesday, December 2, 2008 - 5 pm
at the Cougar Cage, COC, Santa Clarita
El Camino Warriors 70:
10-Lonnie Bennett, PG - 1/7 fg, 1/2 ft, 2 reb, 5 ast, 2 blk, 3 stl, 2 pf, 4 pts
13-Steve Peres, SG - 4/12 fg, 2/4 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 2 pf, 11 pts
23-Kelsey Chine, C - 4/7 fg, 3/7 ft, 5 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 3 pf, 11 pts
32-Kris Lawrie, SF - 2/5 fg, 11/14 ft, 11 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 1 pf, 15 pts
50-David Vasquez, PF - 7/11 fg, 4/4 ft, 5 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 4 stl, 3 pf, 18 pts
5-Lavon Myers, G - 3/6 fg, 2 reb, 4 ast, 1 pf, 6 pts
3-Eric Myles, G - 2/6 fg, 4 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 5 pts
44-Darko Stojanovic, F - 0/1 fg, 2 reb, 2 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 3
Totals: 23/55 fg (.418), 21/31 ft (.677), 33 reb, 19 ast, 4 blk, 13 stl, 17 pf, 70 pts
3-pt fg (3): Bennett, Peres, Myles
Turnovers (16): Vasquez 5, Bennett 3, Lawrie 3, Chine 2, Peres, Myers, Myles
Canyons Cougars 72:
12-Jason Holzwarth, PG - 6/17 fg, 5/5 ft, 1 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 21 pts
21-Justin Smith, PF - 6/16 fg, 2/2 ft, 10 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 14 pts
22-Brandon Bradley, C - 7/13 fg, 6/6 ft, 3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 20 pts
24-Travis Hayden, SF - 0/1 fg, 5 reb, 4 pf, 0 pts
33-Behrang Behjoo, SG - 3/6 fg, 1/2 ft, 7 reb, 2 ast, 3 pf, 7 pts
3-Terrez Scott, G - 3/6 fg, 7 reb, 8 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 2 pf, 6 pts
42-Brooks Flanagan, C - 1/1 fg, 2 reb, 1 pf, 2 pts
32-Gary Rogers, F - 1/3 fg, 1 reb, 1 stl, 1 pf, 2 pts
10-Deshawn Patterson, G - 0/1 fg, 1 reb, 2 pf, 0 pts
30-Jonathan Phillips, F - 1 reb, 0 pts
20-Eric Davis, G - 0/1 fg, 1 reb, 1 pf, 0 pts
11-Darion Andrews, G - 0 pts
team rebounds: 3
Totals: 27/65 fg (.415), 14/15 ft (.933), 42 reb, 18 ast, 1 blk, 5 stl, 19 pf, 72 pts
3-pt fg (4): Holzwarth 4
Turnovers (19): Bradley 4, Smith 3, Scott 3, Holzwarth 2, Hayden 2, Behjoo 2, Phillips 2, Flanagan
Halftime Score: El Camino 31, Canyons 27
Updated Records: Canyons 2-6, El Camino 4-3
Smith's 2 FTs with 6 secs left broke a 70-70 tie
