Boys Basketball

Saugus won its sixth straight league game to move to 7-2 with the regular season finale against Hart the only thing in the way of a Foothill League title.

Saugus put their 5 game win streak to the test when they hosted Canyon on Tuesday. They were up for the challenge and cruised to a convincing 71-44 win.

Adrian McIntyre led the Centurions with 26 points and some strong defensive play.

“Our coach (Manzano) has made us men outside of basketball, but we also take what he has taught us and use it on the court,” McIntyre said after his teams win.

The players around McIntyre continue to step up during the six-game winning streak, and Tuesday it was Tyler Mehl who had had won of his best games of the season. Mehl putting up 22 points which included six made 3-pointers.

“They were definitely looking for me out there, as soon as we find a hot hand out there we want to keep him going,” Mehl said about his teammates.

Saugus also received big contributions from seniors Luke Bodeau and Dylan Spring who had 18 and 10 points, respectively.

This win sets up a showdown between Saugus and Hart where the winner will be crowned Foothill League champions. Tip-off from Saugus is scheduled for 6:30.

Canyon’s rough 2018 campaign will conclude at home against Valencia. The Cowboys are trying to avoid an 0-10 Foothill League season.

– Tanner Nava

Hart boys basketball rounded out the day, following two wins in soccer and in girl’s basketball, and it was up to them to complete the full sweep over West Ranch on Senior Night.

With a three-game winning streak on the line, Whitten Dominguez did not hesitate to put the Indians ahead as he heaved up a three pointer at the top of the key the very first time he got the ball, which hit the bottom of the net.

The first half of play was very tightly contested as baskets were traded back and forth and the biggest lead for either teams was seven when Hart led, 15-8.

That deficit was quickly erased thanks to a 6-0 West Ranch run that brought the Wildcats to within three shortly before the break.

West Ranch senior, Austin Galuppo (6 points, 9 rebounds and 2 steals), was able to get to the foul line just before the end of the half, when he emphatically tried to “yamm” a ball up and over senior Tre Harrill, but was met and fouled at the rim.

The two made free throws by Galuppo gave West Ranch a 20-18 lead at halftime.

Hart came out firing in the third quarter thanks to the hot hand of Dominguez.

The Indians senior scored ten of his game-high 24 points in the third and they took a 40-35 lead in to the final quarter.

The play of the game came in the fourth quarter, when Dominguez lobbed a ball near the rim as Tre Harrill ran a back-door screen and caught the ball within inches of the rim for the easy layup bringing the crowd to its feet.

Things got tight late in the game after Andrew Austin hit two free throws to pull the Wildcats within one, 48-47.

Insert “Foothill League Sixth Man of the Year Candidate”, senior Caleb Waldeck of Hart.

Under 20 seconds to play and the Wildcats opting not to foul, Waldeck took a pass from Harrill and drained a three to ice the game, 51-47.

Waldeck’s only points of the game.

“This win keeps us alive and in the hunt. That’s the bigger picture, we wanted to take care of tonight so we can take care of Friday,” said Hart coach Tom Kelly regarding the looming championship game Friday night.

Whitten Dominguez seems to think his team is ready for the Saugus Centurions:

“We are better than them. We’re about to win. We all know it now and now we have to make sure everyone else knows it.”

– Diego Marquez, KHTS Sports

Valencia solidified its playoff positioning by grinding out a win at Golden Valley in overtime.

It wasn’t pretty, but the Vikings did just enough to win Tuesday on the Grizzlies’ Senior Night, and Golden Valley gave them their best shot.

Down 28-24 at halftime, Golden Valley controlled the third quarter, outscoring Valencia 19-12 thanks to two big 3-pointers from Colt Cangemi (game-high 20 points) and efforts from A’Jahni Levias (16 points) and Micah McLaurin (11 points).

Valencia senior Ben Grant was able to keep his team in the game while everyone went cold. He had six of the team’s 12 points in the quarter. He went on to finish with a team-high 14 points.

“I felt like I wasn’t shooting the ball very well from the perimeter,” said Grant, “I just had the ‘get to the basket’ mentality and get my points from inside-out, and it worked.”

As the clock ticked under two minutes in regulation, Golden Valley clung to a 52-49 lead when the madness ensued.

Three missed free throws by Valencia, seemingly crushing their chances of tying the game. Sloppy offensive possessions by Golden Valley, giving Valencia chance after chance to take the lead.

A made basket by the Vikings and a made free throw by the Grizzlies put the score at 53-51 with less than 8 seconds to play. Dexter Akanno took the inbound pass and quickly weaved up the court to find a wide open Richard Kawakami for the game-tying layup as time expired.

Kawakami, who spent his first two high school seasons playing for Golden Valley, had stunned his former team in his former gym.

“We just stayed composed, we always do this drill called ‘Stop Score Stop’ … we’d been in this position before and we’ve done it,” Grant said regarding the unnerving final minute of regulation.

With all the momentum in Valencia’s favor, the road team proceeded to outscore the hosts 11-3 en route to the come-from-behind 64-56 victory.

Valencia will now look toward finishing the regular season strong against Canyon and building momentum going in to the playoffs as the third playoff berth from the Foothill League.

“One game at a time, one possession at a time. We know that we’ve played against the best and we can compete with anybody.”

– Justin Powell