Capistrano Valley Blows Lead, but Comes Back in Time To Edge Edison

Shawn Reed made two free throws with 10 seconds remaining to lift Capistrano Valley to a 63-62 win over Edison Wednesday night in the season opener for both schools in Huntington Beach.

Reed scored 15 of his 19 points in the last quarter as the Cougars overcame a six-point deficit. Edison built a 48-42 lead early in the final period by outscoring a stunned Capistrano Valley, 18-2, before Reed rallied the Cougars.

Capistrano Valley was cruising with a 41-30 lead early in the third quarter when Edison caught fire. The Chargers outscored the Cougars, 15-4, in the third quarter as forward Chris Cole scored 7 of his 14 points.

Edison extended its lead to 52-46 with 5:13 left to play when Mike Prince scored on a jump shot, and the momentum was clearly in the Chargers’ favor. But that’s when Reed went to work.

The 6-foot 4-inch forward made 7 of 8 free throws down the stretch and his 22-foot jump shot with 32 seconds remaining pulled the Cougars within one point, 62-61. When Edison forward Doug Katona missed his fourth free throw of the game with 18 seconds remaining, the Cougars had an opportunity to win a game that they appeared to have tucked away early.

Reed grabbed Katona’s errant free throw and drove the length of the court. He tried an off-balance shot that missed, but was fouled by Edison’s Dan Hannan. He made both shots and the Cougars survived a last-second shot by Edison guard Ken Ammann to gain the win.

“Reed was our only legitimate shooter left in the game after John Waikle and Jason Trask fouled out,” said Mark Thornton, Capistrano Valley coach. “We diagrammed a different play for him and he shot too early, but sometimes the kids know more than the coaches do.”

Capistrano Valley opened a 10-2 lead in the first quarter and held a 38-29 lead at halftime. But guards Nathan Call and Scott Stark, playing basketball for only the third day since the football season ended, tired in the second quarter and were not a factor in the second half.

“Obviously, that wasn’t Nathan Call out there in the second half,” Thornton said. “We looked like the team we are in the first half and then ran out of gas at the end of the second quarter.”

CAPISTRANO VALLEY (63)--Trask 19, Reed 19, Waikle 10, Stark 4, Call 6, Balagot 4, Binder 1.

EDISON (62)--Cole 14, Katona 4, Hannan 4, Margulies 4, Ammann 24, Smith 6, Prince 6.