COLLEGE BASKETBALL GLENDALE TOURNAMENT : Canyons Uses 2nd-Half Surge to Knock Off Valley

If College of the Canyons continues to play top-quality basketball for only a half, at least the Cougars are picking the right half.

Sparked by 6-foot-9, 260-pound center Jason Joynes, Canyons awoke from a typical first-half funk in time to hand rival Valley a 73-65 setback in the semifinals of the Glendale tournament Friday night.

“We’re a second-half team,” Canyons Coach Lee Smelser said. “It’s been that way and I’m getting sick and tired of it.”

Regardless, the Cougars’ second-half surge proved good enough to put Canyons (10-3) in its third consecutive tournament championship game this season.

Canyons, the defending Western State Conference South Division champion, will meet Glendale for the championship at 7 tonight. Canyons lost in its previous two tournament title games.

In a game that featured diametrically opposed performances by both teams in each half, Canyons overcame a 37-31 halftime deficit with a 16-2 run to start the second half and then shut down the Monarchs (7-6) with a zone defense.

Joynes, a 21-year-old freshman from Australia, led the offensive charge with 13 of his season-high 19 points in the second half--including some off-balance jump shots that must have originated from Down Under.

Joynes was supported by David Langley (18 points, three steals) and Marquis Wilborn (13 points, four steals). Jeff Dorst led Canyons with 11 rebounds and Joynes added six.

After making just 11 of 31 shots in the first half, Canyons hit 16 of 26 shots in the second half. Valley made 15 turnovers in the second half and fell behind by 11 points with 3 minutes 23 seconds to play.

“We just came out as flat as could be (in the second half),” Valley Coach Jim Stephens said. “We didn’t get excited until we were down by 10.”

The Monarchs tried to rally late in the game behind Randy Brown (team-high 15 points, 11 rebounds), Russell Baldwin (13 points) and Nate Hall (12 points), but a seven-point deficit with 1:39 to play was as close as they would get.

Guard Rasaan Hall played a key role in the Canyons defense and scored 11 points.

Valley hit on just 15 of 40 shots from the floor in the first half, but the Monarchs took advantage of 12 Cougar turnovers and a 22-15 rebounding advantage to get the best of it in the first 20 minutes.

Glendale 78, Harbor 68--Alfonso Pule scored 19 points and Osiris Nalls added 14 as the Vaqueros (5-6) advanced to the championship game.

Harry Marks, Juwan Smith and Will Burr each added 11 points for Glendale, which led at the half, 32-28, and used an effective defense the rest of the way to win its third game in a row.

“I thought we did a pretty good job in terms of judgment,” Glendale Coach Brian Beauchemin said. “Defensively, we were playing pretty well.”

In today’s third-place game, Valley will meet Harbor (8-6) at 5 p.m.