Freeway League : Tall Trio Leads Buena Park, 65-61 : Toscano, Kotzin and Smith Are Too Much for Fullerton

Before Friday night’s Freeway League game between Buena Park and Fullerton high schools, Ken Bell, Coyote coach, knew just what it would take for his team to win.

“We have to do one thing,” Bell said. “We’ve got to outrebound them.”

Buena Park did just that, outrebounding the Indians, 29-22, en route to a 65-61 Freeway League win before a capacity crowd at Fullerton.

Buena Park’s 6-foot 8-inch center, Tony Toscano, led the Coyotes with 23 points, 6-8 forward Mike Kotzin added 18 points and 10 rebounds, and 6-4 forward Shane Smith added 8 points and 7 rebounds as the bigger Buena Park front line dominated.

The second-place Coyotes, who trail Troy by a game, improved their league record to 5-1 and overall record to 9-9. The Indians are 3-3 and 12-8.

“Our defense played well and we didn’t let Fullerton get their offensive rebounding,” Bell said.

“But our inside play was tremendous. Kotzin had a great game that made the difference tonight.”

Fullerton took a 34-32 halftime lead behind the play of 6-6 center Chris Zerga. Zerga had only four of his nine points in the half, but he played strong defense and held Kotzin to only seven points.

However, the third quarter belonged to Buena Park. The Coyotes, led by Kotzin, outscored Fullerton, 17-10, to take a 49-44 lead going into the final quarter. In the third quarter, Buena Park outrebounded Fullerton, 10-4.

Randy Forgette, Fullerton coach, praised Buena Park’s front line afterward.

“Kotzin, Toscano and Smith really did a job on us tonight,” he said.

In the fourth quarter, Buena Park clinched the win with some clutch free throw shooting. The Coyotes were 8 for 10 from the line in the period.

Senior guard Marcelus Robbins made a pair of free throws with 14 seconds left to give Buena Park a 65-61 lead.

Fullerton forward Ralph Tallant, who was playing with an injured hip, led all scorers with 24 points, mostly on jump shots from the base line.

The unfriendly surroundings of the Fullerton gym, also know as “The Pit,” usually intimidate opposing teams. But that wasn’t the case Friday.

“This gym didn’t bother us at all tonight,” Bell said. “Their fans got excited, but they never got into the flow of the game.”

BUENA PARK (65)--Glahn 0, Hunter 10, Smith 8, Riley 2, Robbins 4, Kotzin 18, Toscano 23.

FULLERTON (61)--Lentz 6, Hetland 9, Wilber 6, Zerga 9, Perez 7, Tallant 24.

Troy 32, Sonora 30--Rob Burrer scored a game-high 14 points to lead the Warriors past the Raiders at Sonora. Troy (6-0, 12-7) took a 32-28 lead with 2:15 left in the game and, after Sonora missed a shot, the Warriors held the ball for more than a minute.

Sonora got the ball back, but again couldn’t score, and Troy held the ball until the Raiders’ Mike Euins scored at the buzzer.

Euins led the Raiders (1-5, 3-14) with 13 points.

TROY (32)--Burrer 14, Ferren 3, Shirley 6, Picciotta 4, Frenette 1, Godwin 4.

SONORA (30)--Humphrey 8, Johnson 2, Euins 13, Staines 2, Peterson 5.

Sunny Hills 63, La Habra 52--Sophomores David Chisum and Chris Drakos combined for 19 points to lead the Lancers to their second league win.

Sunny Hills improved its league record to 2-4 and overall record to 4-12. La Habra is 1-5 and 1-15.

LA HABRA (52)--Emrick 15, Newman 10, Sciacca 13, Grutbo 4, Ontiveros 2, Reese 8.

SUNNY HILLS (63)--Carpenter 11, Estes 8, Chisum 7, Drakos 12, Henderson 8, Pearson 5, Spurlock 2, Lee 4, Moore 6.