3-A Division Roundup : El Dorado Survives Canyon Rally for 66-64 Win

El Dorado High School squandered a 19-point halftime lead but got a layup from Herb Krapf with three seconds remaining to give the Golden Hawks a wild 66-64 win over Canyon at Canyon Country in the Southern Section 3-A basketball playoffs.

Senior forward Jim Sammon led El Dorado (20-5) with 34 points. Senior Butch Mettinger paced Canyon (19-6) with 24 points. Sammon scored 20 points in the first half and recorded the Hawks last five field goals fo the half for a 39-20 lead. Canyon made 10 of 37 shots in the first half, but guard Darrin Moloznik led a comeback effort by scoring 18 of his 20 points in the second half. Mettinger and Moloznik scored 24 of the Cowboys’ 26 third-quarter points.

Mettinger tied the game, 60-60, with 3:56 left and both teams traded baskets until Moloznik hit a pair of free throws, tying it, 64-64, with 1:45 remaining. El Dorado ran the clock down to 17 seconds and after a time out, went inside to Krapf, who banked in the game-winner.

In other action:

Katella 68, Quartz Hill 47--Knights Coach Tom Danley was not pleased with the Katella’s performance.

“We didn’t press well, we didn’t play good defense and our perimeter shooting was poor,” Danley said. “But we must have done something right. We’ll take the win.”

Katella, seeded second, used its height advantage to survive early jitters and turn the game into an early rout. The Knights led 18-9 after the first quarter, 36-23 at the half and held at least a 17-point lead for most of the second half.

USC-bound Bob Erbst, a 6-8 forward, scored 17 points in the first half for Katella, including two dunks. He finished with a game-high 21 points and 11 rebounds. Wayne Petrakis, a 6-1 reserve forward, scored 18 points, including 10 in the first half. Center Richard Lucas added 11 rebounds.

Katella (22-3), the Empire League champion, will play Centennial on Tuesday. Quartz Hill, the third place team from the Golden League, finished its season with a 6-16 record.

Forward Joe Harris led the Rebels with 16 points and guard Scott Weiss added 14.

Centennial 57, Buena Park 56--The Coyotes were down by five points with 32 seconds remaining but almost pulled off the comeback at Centennial in Compton. Buena Park (11-12) stole the ball twice and scored on jump shots by Gary Hunter and Tony Toscano to make the score 57-56. The Coyotes stole the ball again with 10 seconds left. They got off a shot and tipped the ball four times but couldn’t knock it in before time ran out.

Hunter led Buena Park with 17 points and Toscano added 14. Dwight Thomas led all scorers with 22 points and Allen Trend had 21 for Centennial (11-10).

Troy 62, Montebello 60--The Warriors’ Jeff Ferren made 7 of 8 free throws, all during the bonus situation in the final minute to give them the win.

The Warriors (17-7) led 52-41 with 3:40 left when the Oilers used their full court press to cut the deficit to 55-54 with 58 seconds left. Ferrin then made foul shots with 53 and 41 seconds remaining to give Troy a 59-54 lead.

Montebello’s James Leal then scored a layin with 34 seconds to play before Ferrin made the first of two more free throws for a 60-56 Troy lead. The Oilers’ George Koochof hit two fould shots of his own with 13 seconds left to make the score 60-58, but Ferrin was fouled by Mike Byrd one second later and made both free throws to secure the win.

Ferrin finished with 13 points and 8 assists; Rob Burrer and Mark Rudometkin each scored 15 points for Troy. Leal was the game’s high scorer with 19 points. Montebello ends 14-7.

Valencia 62, Etiwanda 52--Guard David LaRue scored 22 points and forward Kevin Jones added 18 as the Tigers defeated the Eagles at Valencia High.

LaRue, whose ball-handling kept the Tigers in the game, scored most of his points on layups.

“He really hurt us all the way around,” said Eagle Coach Jeff Evans. “He handled the the ball really well.”

Evans, whose team finished the season at 15-10, said his club missed too many outside shots to win.

“They packed it in against us,” Evans said. “If you shoot well you look good. If you don’t shoot well, you don’t look good. We took the same shots we’ve taken all year but we could not knock them in.”

The Tigers (14-9) used the fast break though Coach Ray Rodriguez told his team this week they could not win if they tried to run with the Eagles.

“We didn’t want to run but they were backing up so we stuck with that. I think we played super.”

Hacienda Heights Wilson 92, La Quinta 67--Paul Barriga, a 6-1 guard who had been averaging 10 points in Sierra League play, scored a game-high 30 points to lead the Wildcats (23-3) to an easy win over the Aztecs at Wilson High in Hacienda Heights.

Scott Williams, a 6-10 center headed for the University of North Carolina, added 24 points and 9 blocked shots and Dwain Daniels scored 18 points. Wilson will meet Valencia in Tuesday’s second round.

Michael Whitcomb and Kenny Bennett each scored 17 points for La Quinta (9-12). The Aztecs were never in Friday night’s game. Wilson jumped out to a 25-15 lead after one period and led, 50-31, at halftime.

Pomona 89, Bolsa Grande 84--Marcy Lee, the Red Devils’ 6-10 center, scored 28 points, had 13 rebounds and had 7 blocked shots. Tyrone Greer scored 27 points and had 10 rebounds and Derwin Collins scored 24 points and had 10 assists for Pomona (16-6). Nam Cao led Bolsa Grande (14-9) with 26 points, all on outside shots.