Saddleback shook off its first loss of the season and a sluggish first half, going on a 30-6 run to take command en route to a 77-53 win over host Canyons Tuesday evening in Santa Clarita.
Saddleback, voted the #2 team in Southern California and #4 in the state in the preseason poll, entered 3-1 after losing, 50-48, to Chaffey at the Fullerton tournament last weekend.
And for a little more than a half, Canyons played the Gauchos on mostly even terms. COC led by seven points, 16-9, a little less than eight minutes into the game and trailed by just five points, 36-31, in the opening seconds of the second half.
Then came the 30-6 run. Saddleback (4-1) got a driving lay-up from SF Darnell Taylor and a steal & basket from PG Miles Green to make it 40-31. A lay-up by SG Daren Hechanova made it 42-31, and a 3-point play by Taylor after a steal by Green made it 45-31 with 18:15 left.
And that was just the beginning. Another 3-point play by Taylor pushed the lead to 16 at 50-34 with 16:04 left. Then another steal & basket by Green and a basket by PF Josiah Thropay made it 54-34 with just under 15 minutes to go. A putback basket by Ctr Devin Golston made it 66-37, ending any doubt as to the game's outcome.
Canyons (2-3) started the game well, jumping out to an 11-5 lead and pushing the margin to seven points at 16-9 after a 3-pointer by SG Brad Wyche with just over 12 minutes left in the first half.
But Saddleback answered with a 17-3 run, taking a 20-19 lead on a basket by PF Josh Smith following a steal by Green, and pushing the advantage to seven points at 26-19 after a free throw by Smith with 6:51 left in the first half.
Though leading scorer SF Rafael Love went to the bench with his 3rd foul of the night, Canyons rallied to within three at 31-28 late in the first half. Saddleback led, 36-29, at the break, but Love started the second half with a basket inside in the opening seconds of the second half to make it 36-31.
Then came the 30-6 run. Love soon picked up his fourth foul, and eventually fouled out with 7:49 left. And though Wyche finished with a team-high 10 points for Canyons, he was held scoreless in the second half.
Taylor led all scorers with 13 points, the most remarkable aspect being that he completed three different traditional 3-point plays. Golston came off the bench for 12 pts on 4-for-4 from the floor and 4-for-4 from the line. Brevard and Hechanova had 10 pts each, and Smith had 9 pts and 7 rebs. Green had 8 pts, 4 rebs, 4 asts, and 4 steals.
box score
Tuesday, November 22, 2011 - 5 pm
at The Cougar Cage, Santa Clarita
Saddleback Gauchos 77:
11-Miles Green, PG - 2/4 fg, 4/4 ft, 4 reb, 4 ast, 4 stl, 2 pf, 8 pts
13-Josh Smith, PF - 2/6 fg, 5/11 ft, 7 reb, 3 blk, 1 stl, 2 pf, 9 pts
23-Darnell Taylor, SF - 5/10 fg, 3/3 ft, 2 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 4 pf, 13 pts
32-Alex Worthen-Harris, C - 2/3 fg, 5 reb, 4 blk, 1 stl, 3 pf, 4 pts
33-Daren Hechanova, SG - 3/9 fg, 3/4 ft, 1 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 4 stl, 1 pf, 10 pts
21-Devin Golston, C - 4/4 fg, 4/4 ft, 3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 12 pts
24-Aaron Brevard, G - 4/7 fg, 1 reb, 2 ast, 3 pf, 10 pts
20-Josiah Thropay, F - 1/3 fg, 2/2 ft, 6 reb, 2 blk, 1 stl, 3 pf, 4 pts
25-Everett Osborne, F - 1/4 fg, 3/4 ft, 2 reb, 2 ast, 1 pf, 5 pts
30-Nathan Marsing, F - 1/1 fg, 1 reb, 3 pf, 2 pts
31-Jake Gustin, G - 1 reb, 1 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 1
Totals: 25/51 fg (.490), 24/32 ft (.750), 34 reb, 15 ast, 10 blk, 13 stl, 24 pf, 77 pts
3-pt fg (3): Brevard 2, Hechanova
Technical Foul: team (incorrect uniform # in book for Smith)
Turnovers (11): Taylor 2, Hechanova 2, Osborne 2, Green, Smith, Golston, Brevard, Gustin
Canyons Cougars 53:
4-Rafael Love, SF - 3/10 fg, 2/5 ft, 7 reb, 2 ast, 5 pf, 8 pts
10-Roman Delgado, PG - 0/4 fg, 6/9 ft, 4 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl, 4 pf, 6 pts
24-Wesley Bartole, PF - 3/8 fg, 2/5 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 3 pf, 8 pts
25-Ronald Harris, C - 2/5 fg, 1/2 ft, 10 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 2 pf, 5 pts
31-Brad Wyche, SG - 2/7 fg, 4/4 ft, 1 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 10 pts
5-Brian Harris, G - 2/5 fg, 2/2 ft, 4 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 7 pts
42-Tyler Barber, F - 3/13 fg, 2/3 ft, 7 reb, 8 pts
44-John Green, C - 1 reb, 2 pf, 0 pts
21-Emmanuel Anumba, F - 0/1 fg, 1/2 ft, 1 reb, 1 ast, 4 pf, 1 pt
15-Lionel Poole, F - 0/1 fg, 1 reb, 0 pts
team rebounds: 3
Totals: 15/54 fg (.278), 20/32 ft (.625), 42 reb, 13 ast, 1 blk, 3 stl, 24 pf, 53 pts
3-pt fg (3): Wyche 2, B.Harris
Intentional Foul: Wyche
Fouled Out: Love 7:49 left
Turnovers (21): Delgado 5, R.Harris 4, Wyche 4, Love 3, Bartole, B.Harris, Barber, Anumba, Poole
Halftime Score: Saddleback 36, Canyons 29
Updated Records: Saddleback (#2-South, #4-Calif in preseason poll) 4-1, Canyons 2-3
COC led 16-9 early and trailed by just 5 at 36-31 early in the 2nd half.
Then Saddleback went on a 30-6 run to make it 66-37, and that was that.
