CENTURY LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Amos’ Play Weighs Heavily on El Modena as Foothill Rolls to Victory
Foothill High’s Fred Amos was on a lot of people’s minds Wednesday night.
The center scored 12 points and grabbed 18 rebounds to lead the Knights past El Modena 68-43 in a Century League game at Foothill.
The 6-foot-6, 210-pound Amos seemed to be in the thoughts of every El Modena player who tried to score inside. He altered numerous shots and blocked several more in leading a defense that limited El Modena to a 14-for-57 shooting performance.
“He was playing a one-man zone out there,” said El Modena Coach Tim Tivenan. “He’s so big and really strong. He’s played really well against us in both games, controlled the boards.”
Amos, who had 16 rebounds in Foothill’s 48-45 victory over El Modena Jan. 10, said his opponents acted intimidated inside.
“They had a lot of open inside shots they didn’t really take,” he said. “So they made more passes and that led to more turnovers.”
“Teams don’t want to come inside because of Fred,” said teammate Mark Wilkinson. “He’s our intimidator.”
Foothill (15-6, 7-0 in the league) moved one victory away from ending a six-year string of frustration. After winning the league title in 1983, the Knights have finished second every year since. Foothill can clinch the league title with a victory against Canyon (5-2, 12-9) Friday.
“I want it bad,” Foothill Coach Jim Reames said. “The kids want it bad.
“Defensively, we’ve played very good the last couple of games. And Amos is rebounding his brains out. Our defense has led to the good offense.”
El Modena (3-4, 11-10) was still within striking distance at halftime, trailing, 24-13. But Foothill pulled away with a 12-point run, including four points each from Amos and Wilkinson. The Knights, paced by Wilkinson’s 14 points, led by as many as 32 points in the fourth quarter.
Tivenan said his team failed to offset Foothill’s size. The Knights start Amos, 6-6 Nick Konopisos and the 6-4 Wilkinson, while El Modena’s tallest regular is 6-2. Foothill took full advantage, getting easy inside shots and outrebounding El Modena, 45-23.
El Modena’s main offensive threat, Jeff Leedom, also struggled. Averaging 18.9 points a game, he finished with 12 and scored just two in the first half. Greg Gottlieb led El Modena with 18.
“We’re not very big; We didn’t figure to get much inside,” said Tivenan, whose team lost for the third game in a row. “We’re a perimeter shooting team. Tonight we didn’t make much of anything.”
In other league games:
Santa Ana 69, Santa Ana Valley 52--Santa Ana (9-11, 4-3) won its third game in a row since forward Chauncy Woolridge returned to the lineup and avenged a 59-58 loss to Santa Ana Valley (4-13, 1-6) in the first round of league play. Woolridge, who sat out two games for personal reasons, scored 27 points while Santa Ana Valley’s George Alvarado had 19 points.
Canyon 59, Villa Park 52--Abdi Barhordar had 11 points and Kevin Wilborn had 10 points to lead visiting Canyon (12-9, 5-2). Chris Kirby had 16 points and Aaron Boone had 11 for Villa Park (2-15, 1-6).