Freeway League : Buena Park Doesn’t Let Guard Down in 4th Quarter

Buena Park High School point guard Reggie Brown says he patterns his game after Detroit Piston star Isiah Thomas. But the 5-foot 7-inch senior has taken to Magic Johnson’s Laker theory of “winning time” in the fourth quarter this season.

Brown scored 10 of his team’s 13 points in the final quarter as the Coyotes rolled to a 63-54 victory over host Sonora Friday night in Freeway League action in La Habra. Buena Park remained in first place with a 3-1 league record and improved to 9-7 overall. Sonora (2-2) lost its second straight league game and fell to 5-10 overall.

It was the third time this season that Brown has carried the Coyotes. Earlier, he scored 16 points in the last quarter to pull out a victory over Western and then scored 10 points in two overtime periods to earn another win.

Against Sonora, Brown hit three straight shots to open the fourth quarter to give Buena Park a 56-47 lead and then sealed the victory with two free throws and a layup in the final minute of play to finish with 16 points.

For three quarters, Brown was content to run the Coyote offense in a fast-paced game. He repeatedly dished off some fine passes to teammates Joel Masinsin and Aurelio Solis who were usually stationed along the baseline.

Brown would simply penetrate through the key, draw two or three defenders and then pass to either Solis and Masinsin. The result was generally high percentage shots as Buena Park led throughout.

Brown gave an early indication of what was to come when he swished a long jump shot from the top of the key with three seconds left in the half to give the Coyotes a 34-26 lead at halftime.

“The beauty of Reggie Brown is that he thrives on pressure situations,” Coyote Coach Ken Bell said. “A lot of kids shy away from the ball when the game’s on the line. Reggie oozes with confidence. He wants the ball in the last quarter and usually gets the job done. He’s an amazing athlete.”

Freeway League League Overall School W L W L Fullerton 3 1 12 6 Buena Park 3 1 9 7 Sunny Hills 2 2 8 10 Sonora 2 2 5 10 La Habra 1 3 5 11 Troy 1 3 5 11

He also makes his teammates better. It’s been a long time since Buena Park contended for a league championship, but the Coyotes figure to battle Fullerton to the last game of the season for the Freeway League title. Bell said two road victories this week have given his team added confidence.

“We beat Troy the other night in their gym and that was the first time we’ve won over there in six years,” he said. “I think the same goes for tonight. We haven’t won here in a long time.”

For that matter, few Freeway League opponents have won at Sonora in the past three years. The Samuelson brothers have seen to that. First, Jon and then Eric led the Raider dynasty that included two consecutive trips to the Southern Section 2-A championship.

Now, Mike Samuelson is carrying on the family tradition . . . or at least trying to. The youngest Samuelson doesn’t have the supporting cast his older brothers once had and he’s finding it difficult to be his team’s point guard, shooter, rebounder and defender in the middle.

Samuelson picked up four fouls in the first half but managed to keep from fouling out. He led the Raiders with 14 points and 11 rebounds but was ineffective in the second half when he made 2 of 9 shots.

The Raiders’ two starting forwards--David Devereux and Faris Naber--didn’t contribute much in the opening half, combining for three points. Both came to life in the second half, but the Raiders never got closer than four.

BUENA PARK (63)--Masinsin 10, Solis 20, Toscano 8, Brown 16, Adkins 6, Glahn 2, Badal 1.

SONORA (54)--Devereux 9, Naber 12, Samuelson 14, Euins 2, Carbajal 10, Humphrey 7.

Buena Park 12 22 16 13 -- 63

Sonora 11 15 19 9 -- 54

In other Freeway League action:

Fullerton 68, Sunny Hills 43-- Sunny Hills’ Dexter Jenkins, averaging 17 points in league play, was limited to 9 points by the Indians’ 2-3 zone defense in Fullerton’s 68-43 victory at Sunny Hills. Richard Carnesi scored 17 points and teammate Ralph Tallant added 15 to pace Fullerton, which kept pace with Buena Park for the league lead at 3-1. The Indians are 12-6 overall. Troy slipped to 2-2, 5-11.

FULLERTON (68)--Carnesi 17, Tallant 15, Zerga 6, Hamblin 8, Harrill 6, Boone 7, Perez 6, Wilber 3.

SUNNY HILLS (43)--Henderson 3, Glatzhofer 8, Lutz 4, Fox 8, Jenkins 9, Walson 3, Goree 2, Silletta 2, Claeys 4.

Fullerton 15 12 21 20 -- 68

Sunny Hills 8 9 8 18 -- 43

La Habra 65, Troy 55--Although the Warriors led by four points at the end of the first quarter and were trailed by one at halftime, 34-33, they had a foul-filled third quarter and lost to the Highlanders, 65-55, at Troy.

In the third quarter, the Warriors had six fouls, two technicals and were outscored, 13-4. One technical was called on guard Craig Reash, who walked out onto the court during a free throw. The second technical was called on Troy Coach Mike Williams.

Highlander guard Don Hamano led all scorers with 16 points. Forward Henry Esparza had 13. Center Steve Welch was high scorer for the Warriors with 14 points. La Habra and Troy are both 1-3 in league.

LA HABRA (65)--Esparza 13, Stevens 10, Valuski 5, Hamano 16, Martinez 12, Emrich 5, Lightfoot 2, Suverson 2.

TROY (55)--Edwards 9, Flynn 6, Markley 4, McGrath 12, D. Nelson 2, G. Nelson 8, Welch 14.

La Habra 15 19 13 18 -- 65

Troy 19 14 4 18 -- 55