PG Terrez Scott scored 6 of his 17 points in overtime, including a pair of driving lay-ups through the heart of the defense, to lead #10 Canyons to an 81-77 win over #15 and defending WSC-South champion Citrus Saturday afternoon in Santa Clarita.
In a game that was tied at both halftime and at the end of regulation, Scott scored the first two field goals of overtime and made two free throws with 7 seconds left to clinch the win for Canyons (12-6, 2-0), giving the Cougars a share of the division lead entering its game Wednesday against WSC-South co-leader Bakersfield.
Neither team led by more than 8 points the entire game. Citrus (8-7, 1-1) had a 20-12 lead midway through the first half, only to see Canyons rally to tie the score at 31 with 4:30 left before the break. Canyons took its first 8-point lead almost exactly 20 minutes of playing time later, when SF David Horst made two free throws with 4:27 left in regulation time to give the Cougars a 64-56 lead.
Canyons also led by eight points at 66-58 following a lay-up by Ctr Ronald Harris with exactly four minutes to go. But Citrus rallied after that, getting a pair of 3-point plays from PF Jordan Mackie and single free throws from SG Kerry Carter and PG Darius Middleton to get within a point at 69-68 with 1:32 left. Middleton gave Citrus a 70-69 lead on a steal & lay-up with 1:15 left, but Scott split two free throws with 58 seconds left to tie the score at 70, which is where things stood at the end of regulation time.
In overtime, Harris and SF Steven Thornton each split pairs of free throws to make it 71-71 until Scott scored on his first driving lay-up with 2:15 left to give Canyons a 73-71 lead. After Middleton made one of two free throws for Citrus, Scott scored on another driving lay-up through the heart of the Owl defense with 1:20 left to make it 75-72.
Carter went to the free throw line for Citrus with 35 seconds left, but missed both free throws. Harris got the rebound for Canyons and got teh ball to SG Jaylen Bland, who was fouled with 31 seconds left and made two free throws to make it 77-72. Middleton scored on a putback with 22 seconds left to get Citrus within three points again at 77-74.
Then a seemingly minor detail of the game came into play. Citrus forced a held ball in the Canyons backcourt. On the jump to start overtime Scott stole the ball from Thornton, who was first to the ball after Harris tapped it off the toss. Or at least Thornton was ruled to have had brief possession, despite the protest of Citrus coach Chris Victor. That ruling put the arrow in Canyons' favor, and this held ball was the first held ball after the jump to start overtime.
Citrus now had no alternative but to foul, and Scott made two free throws for Canyons with 7 seconds left to make it 79-74. Middleton banked in a 3-pointer with 2 seconds left to make it 79-77. Canyons needed only to inbound the ball to run out the clock, but Scott's inbounds pass was nearly intercepted under the basket by SF Therique Card. Instead, Harris got the ball and was fouled by Card; his two free throws with 1 seconds left made it 81-77 and finally clinched the win for Canyons.
All that followed a regulation time that felt like a playoff game as the two teams generally regarded as the top teams in the division squared off for the first time this season.
Canyons led, 10-8, early on when Citrus went on a 12-2 run to take what would be its largest lead of the game. Three-pointers by Carter and SG Terrel TJ Todd gave Citrus a 14-10 advantage. A 3-point play by Thornton pushed the Owl lead to five points at 17-12, and then Todd hit another three-point field goal to make it 20-12.
Canyons quickly erased most of that deficit, cutting the Citrus lead to a point at 27-26 with 6:17 left in the first half. Horst tied the game for Canyons at 31 with a putback basket with 4:30 remaining. Citrus went back in front, 34-31, when Thornton hit a 3-pointer about a minute later, but Canyons tied the score at 36 when PF Temjae Singleton knocked down a 3-pointer just ahead of the halftime buzzer.
After Ctr Gregory Sequele scored in the opening minute of the second half for Citrus, Bland and Harris scored on lay-ups after steals to give Canyons a 40-38 lead, and Harris added a putback basket to make it 42-38. Sequele brought Citrus even with a left-handed hook shot that made it 43-43.
Three-pointers by Bland and Scott helped Canyons take a 51-47 lead, and another 3-pointer by Scott made it 54-49. Citrus drew within a point at 54-53 with 7:48 left, but Citrus got a step-back 3-pointer from Bland to push its lead to four points at 60-56. Bland then hit a jumper with 4:46 left to make it 62-56, and Horst made his two free throws with 4:27 left to give Canyons its first 8-point lead of the game at 64-56. But that was just the beginning of the excitement.
For Canyons, Bland led all scorers with 23 pts, including 4 threes, and added 4 rebs, 2 asts, 4 steals and a blocked shot. Scott had 17 pts plus 5 rebs, 5 asts and 3 steals. Harris had 13 pts, 5 rebs, 2 blocks and 2 steals. And Singleton had 10 pts despite fouling out with 1:32 left in regulation time.
For Citrus, Thornton, making his return to Santa Clarita after starring at Golden Valley HS a few years ago, led the Owls with 21 pts. Sequele had the game's only double-double with 15 pts and a game-high 11 rebs. Middleton had 15 pts, plus 5 rebs, 4 asts and 3 steals, and Mackie had 13 pts. But Citrus' leading scorer, Carter, managed just 8 points on the day, well below his season average of 20.6 points per game.
box score
Saturday, January 12, 2013 - 3 pm
at College of the Canyons, Santa Clarita
WSC-South
Citrus Owls 77:
3-Kerry Carter, SG - 3/10 fg, 1/4 ft, 4 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 4 pf, 8 pts
5-Steven Thornton, SF - 7/13 fg, 6/8 ft, 3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 21 pts
10-Jordan Mackie, PF - 4/7 fg, 4/4 ft, 2 reb, 5 pf, 13 pts
20-Gregory Sequele, C - 3/4 fg, 9/12 ft, 11 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl, 4 pf, 15 pts
30-Darius Middleton, PG - 5/15 fg, 3/6 ft, 5 reb, 4 ast, 1 blk, 3 stl, 3 pf, 14 pts
34-Therique Card, F - 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 pf, 0 pts
15-Terrell TJ Todd, G - 2/7 fg, 0/2 ft, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 6 pts
45-Vinny Meller, C - 4 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl, 2 pf, 0 pts
32-Kumase DeMesma, G - 0/1 fg, 1 ast, 0 pts
team rebounds: 5
Totals: 24/57 fg (.421), 23/36 ft (.639), 38 reb, 10 ast, 3 blk, 8 stl, 23 pf, 77 pts
3-pt fg (6): Todd 2, Carter, Thornton, Mackie, Middleton
Fouled Out: Mackie 2:57 left in OT
Turnovers (19): Thornton 4, Mackie 4, Carter 3, Sequele 3, Meller 2, Middleton, Card, Todd
Canyons Cougars 81:
5-Jaylen Bland, SG - 7/14 fg, 5/6 ft, 4 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 4 stl, 3 pf, 23 pts
15-Temjae Singleton, PF - 3/9 fg, 3/4 ft, 3 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 5 pf, 10 pts
25-Ronald Harris, C - 5/6 fg, 3/7 ft, 5 reb, 2 blk, 2 stl, 3 pf, 13 pts
30-Terrez Scott, PG - 6/11 fg, 3/4 ft, 5 reb, 5 ast, 3 stl, 2 pf, 17 pts
31-Tyler Barber, SF - 3/11 fg, 1/2 ft, 6 reb, 1 stl, 2 pf, 7 pts
11-David Horst, F - 1/3 fg, 2/2 ft, 2 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl, 4 pf, 4 pts
34-Jawhar Purdy, G - 1/5 fg, 1/2 ft, 1 ast, 2 pf, 3 pts
14-Lionel Poole, F - 1/1 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 2 pf, 2 pts
21-Dalibor Nonkovic, C - 2/2 ft, 2 pts
team rebounds: 6
Totals: 27/60 fg (.450), 20/29 ft (.690), 32 reb, 14 ast, 4 blk, 13 stl, 23 pf, 81 pts
3-pt fg (7): Bland 4, Scott 2, Singleton
Technical Foul: Singleton (administrative - hanging on rim)
Turnovers (15): Bland 5, Singleton 3, Scott 3, Purdy 2, Harris, Poole
Halftime Score: Tied at 36
End of Regulation: Tied at 70
Updated Records: Canyons (t-#10 in South, t-#20 in Calif) 12-6 overall, 2-0 in WSC-S; Citrus (t-#15 in South) 8-7 overall, 1-1 in WSC-S
Neither team led by more than 8 all game. Canyons led 66-58 with 4 minutes left.
Scott scored 6 of his 17 points in OT to lead Canyons to the win.
