Santa Monica got off to a great start thanks to some hot shooting by the SoCal "Splash Brothers" Madison Higgins and Keilan Horton and held off host Canyons for a 12-point victory in the championship game of the Clash At Canyons Saturday in Santa Clarita.
The Corsairs (2-0) made 10 of their first 15 shots of the game to take a 26-8 lead midway through the first half, and led by double digits the rest of the way. At halftime the advantage was 14 points at 47-33, and the margin reached as many as 18 points at 68-50 with 6:54 left in the second half.
Like the original Splash Brothers (Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson of the NBA Golden State Warriors, Higgins and Horton took the game over with their shooting. Higgins made his first 7 shots of the game, which included 4 three-pointers, and his (traditional) 3-point play after a steal by SG Adam Griffin made it 26-8 with 10:53 left in the first half. Higgins finished 9 of 11 from the field with 5 three-pointers.
And Horton was just as hot to start the first half, making 3 straight jumpers after missing his first shot to help Santa Monica to the fast start. Horton went to the bench after picking up his 2nd foul, but returned in the second half and ended up with 22 points.
Meanwhile, Canyons (1-1) struggled to score, particularly from the 3-point line and the free throw line. The Cougars made just 2 three-pointers on the day. And despite getting into the bonus midway through each half, Canyons failed to rally due in part to missing 20 of 37 free throws in the game.
Still, Canyons trailed by just 10 points at 73-63 with just over 3 minutes left. But then SG David Horst fouled out, and Horton made a pair of baskets to push the Corsair lead to 78-63 with 1:50 left and clinch the win for Santa Monica.
Higgins had his game-high 24 pts, Horton had 22 pts and SF Ronnie Price came off the bench for 12 pts on 4 three-pointers. The rest of the Corsairs made just 6 of 26 shots from the floor, but PG Jerry Shevlin was masterful, dishing out 9 assists while committing just one turnover. PF Joseff Singleton came off the bench for a team-high 5 rebs. In all, Santa Monica used 15 players in the game.
For Canyons, Ctr Zach Davis had 15 pts and a game-high 9 rebs, and SF Ilya Ilyayev had 15 pts, 6 rebs and 4 asts. Horst had 12 pts, 4 rebs, 3 asts, 2 blocks and 2 steals before fouling out with 2:58 left.
box score
2013 Clash At Canyons
Saturday, November 9th - 1 pm
at College of the Canyons, Santa Clarita
Championship Game
Santa Monica Corsairs 79:
0-Jerry Shevlin, PG - 2/5 fg, 2/6 ft, 2 reb, 9 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl, 1 pf, 6 pts
1-Madison Higgins, SF - 9/11 fg, 1/1 ft, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 24 pts
10-Keilan Horton, SG - 7/14 fg, 6/7 ft, 2 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 22 pts
12-Marcus Harris, PF - 0/1 fg, 1 reb, 0 pts
23-Laik Carter, C - 1/3 fg, 3 reb, 1 stl, 5 pf, 2 pts
11-Trey Thompson, G - 0/6 fg, 3/4 ft, 1 reb, 2 pf, 3 pts
5-Adam Griffin, G - 2/5 fg, 2 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 5 pts
24-Joseff Singleton, F - 0/1 fg, 5 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 5 pf, 0 pts
22-Anthony Harris Jr., C - 0/2 fg, 1 reb, 2 pf, 0 pts
4-Mike Ratliff, G - 1/1 fg, 2/4 ft, 4 reb, 2 pf, 4 pts
14-Ronny Price, F - 4/8 fg, 4 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 12 pts
2-Jordan Walker, G - 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 pf, 0 pts
15-Tyler James, F - 1 reb, 1 ast, 3 pf, 0 pts
32-Henry Anyanwu, F - 0/1 fg, 1/2 ft, 3 reb, 1 stl, 1 pt
3-Will Taylor, G - 0/1 fg, 0 pts
team rebounds: 1
Totals: 26/59 fg (.441), 15/24 ft (.625), 33 reb, 19 ast, 1 blk, 9 stl, 32 pf, 79 pts
3-pt fg (12): Higgins 5, Price 4, Horton 2, Griffin
Fouled Out: Carter 5:56 left, Singleton 4:50 left
Turnovers (12): Higgins 2, Horton 2, Griffin 2, Shevlin, M.Harris, Carter, Singleton, James, Anyanwu
Canyons Cougars 67:
10-Roman Delgado, PG - 0/2 fg, 5/8 ft, 4 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 5 pts
11-David Horst, SG - 5/9 fg, 1/1 ft, 4 reb, 3 ast, 2 blk, 2 stl, 5 pf, 12 pts
21-Dailbor Nonkovic, PF - 1/1 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 2 pf, 2 pts
34-Zach Davis, C - 7/13 fg, 1/4 ft, 9 reb, 15 pts
42-Ilya Ilyayev, SF - 5/11 fg, 5/8 ft, 6 reb, 4 ast, 2 pf, 15 pts
24-Antonio Rios, G - 1/3 fg, 0/1 ft, 1 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl, 3 pf, 2 pts
41-Artur Mkrtychyan, F - 2/6 ft, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 pf, 2 pts
14-Bo Vaughan, G - 1/2 fg, 0/2 fg, 2 reb, 3 ast, 3 pts
31-Clay Kasdorf, F - 3/6 fg, 1/2 ft, 4 reb, 1 ast, 4 pf, 7 pts
20-Bijon Isles, F - 1/2 fg, 2/5 ft, 2 pf, 4 pts
15-Brodric Smith, G - 0/2 fg, 1 ast, 0 pts
team rebounds: 7
Totals: 24/51 fg (.471), 17/37 ft (.459), 40 reb, 17 ast, 3 blk, 4 stl, 21 pf, 67 pts
3-pt fg (2): Horst, Vaughan
Fouled Out: Horst 2:58 left
Turnovers (17): Horst 5, Ilyayev 3, Vaughan 3, Kasdorf 3, Nonkovic, Davis, Rios
Halftime Score: Santa Monica 47, Canyons 33
Updated Records: Santa Monica 2-0, Canyons 1-1
SMC made 10 of its 1st 15 shots to take a 26-8 lead with 10:53 left in the 1st.
Santa Monica led by at least 10 points the rest of the way.
