ORANGE COUNTY PREP BASKETBALL : Freeway League : Ferren Gives Troy the Lead and the Win : Jumper With 2 Seconds Left Is Difference for Warriors

Troy High School took its first lead of the second half when it counted most Friday night, as the Warriors defeated Sonora, 42-40, in a Freeway League game at La Habra.

Warrior guard Jeff Ferren made a 10-foot jump shot with two seconds left to give Troy the victory. Sonora missed a chance to take the lead when center Geoff Crow missed a layup with 50 seconds remaining.

Troy appeared to blow its last chance to take the lead when Brad Deloof missed the front end of a one-and-one situation with the score tied, 40-40, with 1:41 left. The Raiders appeared set to take the final shot when Crow found an opening and moved for the layup, but missed, setting up Ferren’s final shot.

“We wanted Ferren to either shoot the ball or dump it off and he saw the opening,” Troy Coach Ed Graham said. “Sonora’s a patient team, if they keep the score in the 40s they usually win.”

Ferren’s game-winning basket ended a fourth-quarter rally by the Warriors, who trailed, 35-27, with seven minutes left. Troy may have been lucky to be that close, considering it made only 2 of 14 shots in the third quarter.

Sonora wasn’t faring much better, but its two leading scorers on the season, Grayle Humphrey and David Morris, each made a three-point shot to give the Raiders a six-point lead (33-27) after three quarters.

The Raiders (1-1, 5-8) made only one shot in the fourth quarter, however, and Troy had an 11-4 run as Ferren and Deloof each scored four points.

Morris did not score for Sonora in the final period. “We trapped on defense in the second half hoping that it would wear down Morris and Humphrey,” Graham said.

The Warriors’ cold shooting started in the first half, but 6-foot 5-inch reserve center Mike Picciotta scored nine points in the second quarter to bring the Warriors back. Troy’s full-court press also caused three turnovers and broke the Raiders’ momentum. Troy had a balanced scoring attack as three players scored in double figures. Deloof and Mike Picciotta each scored 11 points and Ferren had 10. Mark Rudometkin added nine points for the Warriors.

Grayle Humphrey scored 16 points to lead Sonora.

Sunny Hills 67, Buena Park 62--Forward Chris Drakos scored 19 points and had 10 rebounds to lead the Lancers (1-1, 9-6) at Buena Park. Kevin Grady had 19 points and Gary Hunter 15 for the Coyotes.

Fullerton 56, La Habra 52--Mike Hetland scored 7 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter to rally the Indians at La Habra High. Fullerton (1-1, 5-5) trailed, 18-9, after one quarter but outscored La Habra (1-1) in each of the remaining quarters.

Greg Wilber scored a team-high 15 points and Alan Lewis added 12 points for the Indians. The Highlanders were led by Nelson Bergamo (15 points), Alan Newman (12) and David Stevens (10).