Controlled Chaos : Canyons Rides Wild Fast Break Into Playoff Game

As much as College of the Canyons Coach Lee Smelser wants to continue the basketball season--and he wants to do that more than anything--you get the feeling that he might be happier doing something else.

When Smelser and his basketball team leave today for San Diego and a second-round game in the state playoffs against Grossmont College, less than 24 hours will have passed since Smelser tasted defeat.

“We got nipped, 3-0, at Moorpark,” said Smelser, also the Canyons softball coach. “The girl threw a no-hitter at us.”

Smelser may be pondering the pros and cons of splitting his time between sports. After all, if he didn’t coach softball, he would have more time to spend with his basketball program, which he may need to do in preparation for next season.

Six Canyons players, four of them starters, are in their last season. Smelser will need the time to find players to replace his replacements, who will be his starters next season.

Which brings us to Canyons’ bench, without which Canyons would not have been able to streamline a once-rough fast break into the explosive scoring unit that has advanced the Cougars to the second round of the state basketball tournament.

“We have told our bench that they are not just there to rest people,” Smelser said. “We’re asking them to play and they have done that. They know that every little bit helps.”

It will take bigger than average bits tonight when the Cougars face Grossmont at 7:30. The Griffins are ranked No. 5 in the state and own a 26-4 record. Grossmont is undefeated in the Pacific Coast Conference at 10-0 and hasn’t lost a conference game in two years or any games in 1986, running up a 14-0 streak.

Canyons is 20-9 and finished second to L.A. Southwest in the Mountain Valley Conference with an 8-2 record. The Cougars, who are coming off a 103-90 first-round drubbing of Moorpark, are ranked No. 11 in Southern California.

“It’ll be a pretty even game even though they have a better record,” Canyons assistant coach Greg Herrick said. “They’ll use the press for about 10 minutes before they figure out it won’t work against us.”

Canyons’ offensive game relies on the fast break, and the break depends on the Cougars’ bench. To run constantly, as Canyons does as well as any team in Southern California, it must have able-bodied reserves ready to go. And they are, anytime, anywhere, against anyone.

“I’m confident our break can’t be defended against successfully,” Herrick said. “Now, it’s just a matter of our players being successful in running it.”

Guard Derek Hughes, whose 15 assists helped knock off Moorpark, is the integral player in the Cougars’ run-and-gun offense. This season, the 5-11 sophomore led the conference in assists.

“He’s the key to the break,” Herrick said. “Earlier, he was going for the easy passes but lately he’s been taking the long passes and pushing the ball right up the gut.”

When Hughes rests, sixth-man Kevin Honaker fills his spot. With his long stints on the bench, the freshman is indeed a fresh man when he enters games, and has has improved as much as the break this season. He came off the bench to score 15 points against Moorpark and is one of the team’s best free throw shooters.

Doug Aitken, a reserve forward, does well off the bench. He scored 12 points against Trade-Tech in Canyons’ next to last conference game. Jerry McNulty, a 6-6 reserve center, played one of his best defensive games of the season in the first regional game.

“They know that their not in there just biding time,” Smelser said. “They know that when they go in there it’s because there is a specific thing that they do well, and we expect them to do it.”

That’s Canyons strategy. Attrition. Run the opponent into the ground. Keep filling the floor with fresh horses and never give the opposition time to think.

“That’s what we hope for,” Smelser said. “We hope that at the 10-minute mark, they’ll get tired. I haven’t seen a team move kids in and out of a game like we have.”

Grossmont, however, has a few horses of its own. It didn’t go 26-4 on a carrousel.

Center Juan Espinoza, a 6-8, 200-pound sophomore who has signed a letter of intent with San Diego State, is averaging more than 65% from the field and more than 90% from the line. He averages 9.3 rebounds a game.

Power forward Tyrone Muldrow (6-6, 215) is averaging 55% from the field. The sophomore also averages 9.4 rebounds a game.

Those two should match up nicely against Vincent Ray and James Mixon, both whom have averaged more than 20 points this season for Canyons.

Ray drives the lane as well as any player in the area and Mixon’s quick-release baseline shots have baffled opponents all season.

Freshman center Anthony Hines, who earned first-team all-conference honors at 17, and forward Ron Stapp, who consistently scores in double figures, round out the Cougars’ starters.

Tonight, the Cougars have a chance to extend their season. But what if they lose?

“We have had great season,” Smelser said. “It would have been a little more gratifying if we had won our conference, but we’re just tickled with the way things have gone.”