La Cañada boys’ basketball dominates to open tournament

LA CAÑADA — A wire-to-wire victory got the La Cañada High boys’ basketball team off to a nice start in its annual tournament.

The Spartans welcomed L.A. Marshall for their first game in the La Cañada Holiday Classic and won convincingly, 63-38, Tuesday evening.

Offense and defense were both superior against the Barristers. The team’s main focus, though, is performing just as well as it faces tougher competition.

“Defensively, we’re improving,” Spartans coach Tom Hofman said. “The big question mark is how we’ll do against tougher teams.

“On the offense, we did a good job sharing the ball. We got a number of assists.”

Pristine ball movement was evident from the get-go, although the Spartans (4-2) started off cold shooting the ball, making just five of 16 from the field in the first quarter.

Marshall, however, never got it going. Thus, the game became quickly out of reach as soon as La Cañada found the stroke.

The Spartans caught fire early in the second quarter, when they started the frame five from five from the field.

A no-look pass from Patric Panoosi to Tommy Baktamian inside gave the Spartans a 22-9 advantage. The game wouldn’t dip below double digits thereafter.

Panoosi hit three from behind the arc in the second, finishing with four and a team-high 22 points.

Last season’s All-Rio Hondo League first-team forward and the rest of the Spartans benefited from the flowing offense, as they shot eight of 12 in the second and six for 11 in the third.

The team connected on 10 three-pointers for the game.

“We started slow but got hot and relaxed,” Hofman said.

On the other end, La Cañada’s defense didn’t allow a field goal in the third quarter until the 3:52 mark. The margin had ballooned to 22 at that point. Marshall was outscored 18-8 in the third and managed to score just 18 points in the second half.

The Spartans had balanced scoring, with Ryan Graves adding 11. Kristan Contangco and Zach Feehan finished with nine points apiece.

Hofman was able to go deep into his bench, as the game was all but decided in the fourth.

“We need to continue playing together,” said Graves, a junior. “We did a good job of sharing the ball. That’s what we need to do: pass, find the open guy, get a good shot.”