Bonds Can’t Shoot Hart Out of Hole; Canyon Wins, 53-52

Hart High’s basketball team had not played in eight days when it took the court at College of the Canyons Tuesday night to play Canyon.

And for three quarters, the Indians looked as if they were still taking time off. After 24 minutes, Hart had 27 points.

“If you wait until the fourth quarter to play,” Hart Coach Doug Michelson said, “that’s what happens.”

What happened was that the Indians dug themselves such a hole that even a 25-point effort in the fourth quarter left them slightly short.

Only when Hart’s Jim Bonds came up short on a 25-footer at the buzzer was Canyon’s 53-52 win secure.

The Cowboys, who had lost a 47-45 decision to Hart last month, nearly let the game get away in the fourth quarter.

Canyon (8-6) led, 41-27, entering the final quarter when it suddenly started turning the ball over and missing free throws.

Hart (7-8) also made a game of it by finally making some shots. In the first three quarters, the Indians made 12 of 43 shots.

Jim Baroni, who had 14 points for Hart, opened the quarter by hitting a jumper from the corner. Over the first four minutes of the quarter, Hart hit five baskets and three free throws to close the margin to 49-40.

Canyon’s lead was down to five with 1:47 left when Hart’s Mike Michelson connected from the corner. On the inbounds play, Michelson intercepted the Canyon pass and scored on a layup to make it, 52-49, Canyon, with 1:37 left.

After a time out, Canyon again threw the inbounds pass away. But Baroni’s shot went in and out and Canyon’s Jeff Paskwietz collected the rebound and was fouled.

With 1:18 left, Paskwietz missed the first free throw in a bonus situation, giving Hart life.

Thirty-eight seconds later, the Indians not only had life, but an even game.

Bonds, who had 14 points for Hart, scored off an offensive rebound and was fouled by Stuart Sayre. His free throw tied the game at 52 with 40 seconds left.

Canyon was setting up for one last shot when Darrin Moloznik spotted an open lane to the basket and took off. He didn’t score on the layup attempt, but drew the foul from Hart’s David Lee with 30 seconds left.

Moloznik made the first free throw, but missed the second one. Hart got the ball back, but Michelson’s 20-footer with six seconds left went awry.

Moloznik got the rebound and was fouled with four seconds left. He had a chance to put the game away but missed on his free throw. Hart, with no timeouts left, rushed the ball up court to Bonds, whose shot hit the rim but bounced away.

“We got a great shot off, considering we had no timeouts left,” Michelson said.

Most the night, Canyon’s Butch Mettinger had great aim. Mettinger, a 6-6 senior forward, made 9 of 13 from the field to finish with a game-high 18 points. Greg Paskwietz added 16 for the Cowboys.

The game was played in stark contrast to the teams’ first meeting, a rough-and-tumble affair that included 46 fouls. Hart and Canyon combined for 33 fouls in the rematch, but most were not of the violent nature that characterized the first game, which ended with Moloznik missing a potential game-tying shot with seven seconds left.

Tuesday night, it was Hart’s turn to miss at the end.