CENTURY LEAGUE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Canyon Has Enough to Hold On for Victory Over El Modena

Canyon High School held off El Modena, 74-64, in a Century League basketball game Friday night at Canyon.

Canyon (10-9 overall and 3-2 in league play) led by as many as 18 points early in the second half, but El Modena (11-8, 3-2) didn’t fold.

“We had a big hill to climb and that probably took a lot of gas out of us,” El Modena Coach Tim Tivenan said.

Guard Abdi Barkhordar scored 26 points and forward Kevin Wilborn added 24 for Canyon.

“I wanted to set the tempo early, get a lead and dominate the game from there,” Barkhordar said. “In the second half I was just trying to get everyone into the offense, especially the tall ones.”

Barkhordar scored 18 points in the first half as Canyon built a 16 -point lead. Junior center Charles Sanders’ basket with 1:35 remaining in the half gave Canyon a 35-19 lead. El Modena made only seven of 26 shots from the floor in the half.

Canyon’s lead didn’t hold. The Vanguards, trailing 49-32 with 5:47 remaining in the third quarter, went on a 15-2 run. Guard Greg Gottlieb and forward Jeff Leedom accounted for 20 of their team’s 22 points in the quarter.

El Modena trailed 60-58 after senior guard Robert Dadant scored with 4:10 remaining.

But during the final four minutes the inside strength of Wilborn, who also had 15 rebounds, proved too much for the Vanguards. Wilborn had 12 points in the final quarter, including eight free throws.

El Modena also missed two front ends of one-and-one free-throw situations late in the game. Canyon guard Michael Green iced the victory with four free throws.