Freeway League Roundup : Troy Pulls Off Surprise, Beats Sunny Hills, 54-48

Troy High School Coach Ed Graham knew his boys’ basketball team could play with Sunny Hills, but he never thought it would win.

But Troy surprised its coach by upsetting Sunny Hills, 54-48, Wednesday night in a Freeway League game at Troy.

The victory moved the Warriors (13-4, 5-0) into first place in the league standings and snapped an 11-game Sunny Hills winning streak. Sunny Hills (14-2, 4-2), ranked second in the Southern Section 3-A, drops into second place in the Freeway League.

“I never expected to win tonight,” said Graham. “I knew we could play with them at the end, but it’s definitely an upset.”

The game was tight from the start. Sunny Hills led by no more than three points the first half and had trouble rebounding the entire game.

Both teams traded leads in the third quarter, with the Lancers taking a two-point lead (34-32) heading into the final period.

Trailing by three points with 2 1/2 minutes to play, Pat O’Curran tied the score, 40-40, for the Warriors when he connected on a three-point shot.

Troy was able to put the game out of reach with less than 30 seconds to play when center Tim Morris scored on a layin to put the Warriors ahead, 52-45.

Marcus Hopkins led all scorers with 17 points for Sunny Hills, and Chris Drakos added 11, mostly from close inside. Senior Matt Crothers led Troy with 12 points and center Tim Morris had 10.

“I felt our team was really composed the last two minutes,” added Graham. “This victory ranks right up there as one of my best ever.”

Fullerton 80, Buena Park 72--Greg Wilber scored 31 points and Pete Bach added 22 points for the host Indians. Center Alan Lewis had 8 points and 14 rebounds for Fullerton (9-7, 3-2).

Buena Parks was led by Gary Hunter with 29 and Kevin Graddy with 20. Buena Park is 9-6, 3-2.

Sonora 63, La Habra 31--Grayle Humphrey scored 17 points and Gene Metzger 14 for visiting Sonora. Scott St. Clair added 13 points for the Raiders (6-10, 1-4).

La Habra (5-12, 0-5) did not have a player score in double figures.