Glendale Keeps Hopes for Playoff Berth Alive

Glendale College played as if its playoff life depended on winning.

Which it did.

College of the Canyons played as if its postseason life was already secure.

Which fortunately for the Cougars it was, because Canyons dropped its regular-season finale, 77-75, to Glendale in a Western State Conference game at Canyons.

Duayne Davis scored two baskets in the final 1:25, including a turnaround jump shot with 33 seconds left, to break a 73-73 tie and give the Vaqueros the win.

“We were not intense enough,” Canyons Coach Lee Smelser said. “They took it from us. It was a matter of emotion. We didn’t practice well yesterday and I was worried.”

Smelser, unlike Glendale Coach Brian Beauchemin, did not have to worry about locking up a playoff berth. The Cougars (18-13, 8-5 in conference play) went into the game in second place in the WSC’s Southern Division and will enter the playoffs in the same position.

“We’ll still be in second, but we might have had a shot at some home games in the playoffs had we won,” Smelser said.

Glendale (12-15, 6-6) needed the win to keep its playoff hopes alive. If Glendale can win its final game against first-place Santa Monica, it has a chance at a wild-card berth. The playoffs begin Feb. 27.

The first-round pairings will not be determined until Monday, but Beauchemin hopes his team will be playing somebody. He figures that the Vaqueros earned the chance with their third win in a row.

“We’ve had good efforts throughout,” he said. “Tonight we hit some good shots.”

Glendale received clutch shooting from Davis and Geoff Foote. Davis, a freshman forward, scored 6 of his 8 points in the final 3:30 when Glendale outscored Canyons, 10-5. And Foote, a sophomore forward, scored one basket in that span and had 12 of his 14 points in the second half. Foote also grabbed 10 rebounds.

Glendale’s Matt Dyrek (24 points, 11 rebounds) also hurt Canyons, which received a game-high 26 points from sophomore forward Butch Mettinger.

Mettinger, however, had only seven points in the first half, after which the Cougars held a 39-33 lead.

“They were working him pretty good, staying in his face,” Smelser said. “But he got loose in the second half.”

It was a free throw by Mettinger that tied the score, 71-71, with 2:32 left. He tied the score again, 73-73, with two more free throws after Foote hit a baseline jump shot to give Glendale the lead.