SG Alex Igual's free throw with 18 seconds left lifted #11 Cuesta to a 70-69 win over host Canyons Saturday evening, keeping Cuesta a half-game ahead of the WSC-North division race and dealing a potentially devastating blow to Canyons' playoff hopes in the process.
In such a foul-filled game, it seemed inevitable that a foul would play a direct role in the outcome. Cuesta (20-9, 9-2) saw three of its starters pick up a 4th personal foul before the halfway point of the second half, and lost leading scorer PF Oscar Pedroso on a 5th foul with 9:49 left. And Canyons (12-11, 6-4) also had three key players with four personal fouls each as the clock wound down.
With the score tied at 69, Igual dribbled just beyond the top of the key when Canyons' SG David Horst was called for a foul for using an arm-bar with 18 seconds left. Igual made one of two free throws to break the tie. Canyons immediately called its last timeout to set up a final play, but ended up having to settle for a desperation 25-foot 3-point try from PG Roman Delgado, which hit the rim. SG Antonio Rios got the rebound, but time ran out before he could get another shot away.
That the game would end with a one-point differential was only fitting, as it was close all the way. Canyons scored 5 points in the game's first minute and led, 12-6, but never led by more than 6 points. Cuesta took a 23-22 lead on two free throws by Ctr Brett Hartshorne midway through the first half, but Canyons re-claimed a 6-point lead with just under 7 minutes left and led by 6 again late in the first half until PG Ellis Gibson scored on a tip-in just ahead of the halftime horn to make it 38-34 at the break.
Cuesta started the second half with a 13-1 run to take a 47-39 lead with 16:26 to play. But not only would that be the largest lead of the game - for either team - but foul trouble was lurking in the background for Cuesta and coach Rusty Blair.
Hartshorne picked up his 4th foul just a few minutes later, and less than a minute after that SF Kyle Geer picked up his 4th foul. And with 10:43 remaining, Pedroso picked up his 4th foul. Blair elected to roll the dice and keep all three of his starters - Cuesta's top 3 scorers for the season - on the floor. But less than a minute later, Pedroso, Cuesta's leading scorer, fouled out with 9:49 remaining.
However, both Hartshorne and Geer avoided a 5th foul, and the game remained close as the clock wound down. Canyons took a 61-56 lead after a 3-pointer by Horst with just under 6 minutes left, and held a 68-63 lead after a 3-pointer by SF Ilya Ilyayev. PF Zach Davis split two free throws with exactly two minutes to go to give Canyons a 5-point lead at 69-64.
But Canyons didn't score another point. Hartshorne made two free throws to make it 69-66, and Bauer made his 3-pointer with 1:30 left to tie the score at 69. Neither team scored for more than a minute after that, until Igual's tie-breaking free throw that proved to be the difference.
Igual finished with 23 pts and added 3 rebs and 3 asts. He was the only player to score in double digits for Cuesta. Pedroso had 9 pts, 5 rebs and 5 asts despite foul trouble most of the game, and Hartshorne had 9 pts, 4 rebs and 2 asts. Geer had 7 pts and 6 rebs, and Bauer had 7 pts and 3 asts. Perhaps most importantly, 7 Cuesta players combined for 10 three-pointers, with Igual making 4 of them.
For Canyons, Ilyayev led all scorers with 24 pts while adding 8 rebs and 2 asts. Ctr Dalibor Nonkovic had 11 pts, 5 rebs and 2 asts, and Horst came off the bench for 11 pts, 2 rebs and 3 asts despite battling flu symptoms. Davis had 9 pts and 6 rebs.
The win keeps Cuesta a half-game ahead of Ventura in the WSC-North race. Canyons falls to 6-4 in conference entering Wednesday's game at Ventura, and in third place in a division in which it far from certain that more than one team will be chosen for the postseason.
box score
Saturday, February 15, 2014 - 5 pm
at The Cougar Cage, Santa Clarita
WSC-North
Cuesta Cougars 70:
1-Valentin Bauer, PG - 3/3 fg, 0/1 ft, 1 reb, 3 ast, 2 pf, 7 pts
12-Alex Igual, SG - 8/19 fg, 3/6 ft, 3 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 23 pts
14-Kyle Geer, SF - 2/7 fg, 2/2 ft, 6 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 4 pf, 7 pts
21-Oscar Pedroso, PF - 2/7 fg, 4/4 ft, 5 reb, 5 ast, 5 pf, 9 pts
44-Brett Hartshorne, C - 2/7 fg, 4/4 ft, 4 reb, 2 ast, 2 blk, 1 stl, 4 pf, 9 pts
55-Mohammed Ali Ben Ammar, C - 1/2 fg, 3/6 ft, 6 reb, 3 ast, 5 pf, 5 pts
33-Dmitry Utolin, F - 2/7 fg, 4 reb, 1 blk, 2 pf, 5 pts
32-Rafael Casanova, F - 1/3 fg, 1 reb, 1 stl, 3 pts
10-Alejandro Jorda, G - 0/2 fg, 0/1 ft, 1 reb, 0 pts
40-Tayler Thompson, C - 0 pts
0-Ellis Gibson, G - 1/1 fg, 1 reb, 1 pf, 2 pts
team rebounds: 8
Totals: 22/58 fg (.379), 16/24 ft (.667), 40 reb, 18 ast, 4 blk, 3 stl, 23 pf, 70 pts
3-pt fg (10): Igual 4, Bauer, Geer, Pedroso, Hartshorne, Utolin, Casanova
Fouled Out: Pedroso 9:49 left, Ben Ammar 2:00 left
Turnovers (11): Pedroso 4, Igual, Geer, Hartshorne, Ben Ammar, Utolin, Casanova, team
Canyons Cougars 69:
10-Roman Delgado, PG - 1/7 fg, 2 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 4 pf, 3 pts
21-Dalibor Nonkovic, C - 4/10 fg, 3/5 ft, 5 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 4 pf, 11 pts
24-Antonio Rios, SG - 2/3 fg, 1/1 ft, 4 reb, 2 pf, 5 pts
34-Zach Davis, PF - 4/8 fg, 1/6 ft, 6 reb, 2 ast, 3 pf, 9 pts
42-Ilya Ilyayev, SF - 6/11 fg, 9/9 ft, 8 reb, 2 ast, 1 pf, 24 pts
14-Bo Vaughan, G - 1/3 fg, 1 reb, 3 ast, 2 pts
11-David Horst, G - 3/7 fg, 3/4 ft, 2 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 5 pf, 11 pts
44-Ricardo Greaves, F - 1/2 ft, 1 pf, 1 pt
20-Bijon Isles, G - 1/3 fg, 1/3 ft, 3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 3 pts
team rebounds: 4
Totals: 22/52 fg (.423), 19/30 ft (.633), 35 reb, 16 ast, 1 blk, 4 stl, 22 pf, 69 pts
3-pt fg (6): Ilyayev 3, Horst 2, Delgado
Fouled Out: Horst 18 seconds left
Turnovers (11): Isles 4, Horst 3, Nonkovic 2, Delgado, Davis
Halftime Score: Canyons 38, Cuesta 34
Updated Records: Cuesta (#11-South) 20-9, 9-2 in WSC-N; Canyons 12-11, 6-4 in WSC-N
Neither team led by more than 8 pts. Cuesta started the 2nd half with a 13-1 run to lead 47-39.
Canyons led 69-64 with 2 mins left. Cuesta tied it on Bauer's 3-pointer with 1:30 left.
Igual made 1 of 2 FTs with 18 secs left to win it for Cuesta. Delgado's 25-ft 3-pt try missed at the horn.
