SG Terrance Reaves came off the bench to make 7 3-pointers, helping #1-ranked Citrus (17-3) to a 92-84 win over a stubborn Canyons (7-12) squad Wednesday night in Santa Clarita in the WSC-South opener for both teams.
Citrus' depth was demonstrated by the performance by Reaves, the 6th substitute for the Owls and the 11th of 12 players used. And Citrus' second-leading scorer was Ctr Mark Dorsey, who made 6 of 7 shots from the floor for 14 pts; Dorsey also came off the bench for the Owls.
Canyons stayed close most of the way, and the Cougars actually led, 77-75, with just over five minutes remaining. But then Citrus went on a 7-0 spurt to take the lead. It was still a 5-point game with 2:46 left but Citrus pulled away late to take control.
Early on, Canyons took a lead, jumping out to a 12-5 advantage. Citrus rallied, tying the game at 31, but Canyons went back into the lead on a 3-pointer by SF Travis Hayden. Then Citrus rallied again, tying the score at 47 late in the first half and taking a 49-47 lead into the break after a short jumper by Dorsey with just over a minute left in the first half.
When the second half began, Canyons immediately re-took the lead on a basket by Ctr Justin Smith and a pair of free throws by PG Terrez Scott. The lead went back and forth for the next several minutes but Citrus eventually edged out to a 6-point lead at 68-62 following a lay-up by PG Steven Bennett.
But Canyons went on a 10-0 run to not only wipe out that deficit but build a 72-68 lead. Citrus rallied to tie the game at 75, but Canyons went back in front, 77-75, on a lay-up by Smith on a feed from Scott with just over 5 minutes remaining.
Then Citrus quickly tied the game and then went in front on a basket by PF Troy Payne. Reaves then extended the margin to 5 at 82-77 on his 7th 3-pointer with just over 4 minutes left.
Canyons stayed close, and still trailed by just 5 at 85-80 with less than 3 minutes left. But then a basket by Dorsey on a feed from SG Justin Johnson made it 87-80. Then, after a block by Payne, Citrus got another fastbreak basket with Dorsey passing to J. Johnson for a basket this time to make it 89-80.
Canyons got a jumper from Scott to make it 89-82 with 1:18 left, but then SF Curtis Eatmon clinched the win for Citrus with a 3-pointer that made it 92-82.
For Citrus, Reaves led the way with his 21 pts, all on threes. Dorsey had 14 pts and Eatmon had 11 pts plus 7 rebs. No other Owls scored in double figures, but ten Owls scored in all and Citrus shot 58% from the floor for the game.
For Canyons, Smith had a huge game with 25 pts on 11-of-13 from the floor, and also had game-highs of 9 rebs and 4 blocked shots. Bradley had a strong all-around game with 16 pts, 8 rebs, 4 asts and 2 steals. Scott was also solid with 15 pts, 6 asts and 2 steals.
box score
Wednesday, January 7, 2009 - 5 pm
at the Cougar Cage, Santa Clarita
WSC-South
Citrus Owls 92:
5-Steven Bennett, PG - 1/6 fg, 2/4 ft, 3 reb, 6 ast, 1 stl, 4 pf, 4 pts
14-Curtis Eatmon, SF - 4/8 fg, 2/4 ft, 7 reb, 1 pf, 11 pts
20-Justin Johnson, SG - 3/5 fg, 6 reb, 4 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 2 pf, 6 pts
23-Troy Payne, PF - 4/6 fg, 1/3 ft, 5 reb, 4 ast, 1 blk, 4 pf, 9 pts
30-Nathan Gibbs, C - 2/4 fg, 1 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl, 4 pts
10-Kelly Johnson, G - 3/3 fg, 2/5 ft, 2 reb, 3 ast, 5 stl, 2 pf, 8 pts
3-Jose Rivera, G - 2/5 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 2 pf, 6 pts
15-Mark Dorsey, C - 6/7 fg, 2/3 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 pf, 14 pts
32-Zareh Zargaryan, F - 4/5 fg, 0/1 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 5 pf, 9 pts
40-Keith Thompson, F - 0/1 fg, 2 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 1 pf, 0 pts
34-Terrance Reaves, G - 7/12 fg, 2 pf, 21 pts
44-Kyle Gordien, C - 1 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 0
Totals: 36/62 fg (.581), 9/20 ft (.450), 33 reb, 22 ast, 5 blk, 9 stl, 25 pf, 92 pts
3-pt fg (11): Reaves 7, Rivera 2, Eatmon, Zargaryan
Fouled Out: Zargaryan 5:37 left
Turnovers (16): J.Johnson 3, Payne 3, Zargaryan 3, Bennett 2, K.Johnson 2, Eatmon, Dorsey, Reaves
Canyons Cougars 84:
3-Terrez Scott, PG - 5/13 fg, 4/5 ft, 3 reb, 6 ast, 2 stl, 4 pf, 15 pts
12-Jason Holzwarth, SG - 1/6 fg, 4/6 ft, 2 reb, 6 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 7 pts
21-Justin Smith, C - 11/13 fg, 3/4 ft, 9 reb, 1 ast, 4 blk, 2 pf, 25 pts
22-Brannon Bradley, PF - 6/14 fg, 4/7 ft, 8 reb, 4 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl, 1 pf, 16 pts
33-Behrang Behjoo, SF - 2/7 fg, 2/4 ft, 8 reb, 2 ast, 3 pf, 6 pts
24-Travis Hayden, F - 3/5 fg, 1/1 ft, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 pf, 9 pts
42-Brooks Flanagan, F - 1 ast, 0 pts
20-Eric Davis, G - 2/2 ft, 1 ast, 0 pts
30-Jonathan Phillips, F - 2/2 fg, 1 blk, 2 pf, 4 pts
34-C.J. Atkins, G - 0/1 fg, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 5
Totals: 30/61 fg (.492), 20/29 ft (.688), 39 reb, 23 ast, 6 blk, 6 stl, 17 pf, 84 pts
3-pt fg (4): Hayden 2, Scott, Holzwarth
Turnovers (18): Scott 4, Holzwarth 3, Hayden 3, Bradley 2, Davis 2, Smith, Behjoo, Atkins, team
Halftime Score: Citrus 49, Canyons 47
Updated Records: Citrus (#1-South, #2-Calif) 17-3, Canyons 7-12
