FREEWAY LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Unranked Troy Beats Sunny Hills

Troy basketball Coach T.J. Hardeman knew that if the Warriors had any chance of beating Sunny Hills, they had to hit their free throws and slow down the Lancers’ Terry Mann in the second half.

Unranked Troy did both Wednesday night and upset Sunny Hills, the county’s fifth-ranked team, 71-64, in a Freeway League game at Sunny Hills.

The Warriors (12-5, 2-0) built a nine-point, third-quarter lead and held on in the fourth quarter by shutting down Mann and making 16 of 20 free throws.

Mann, Sunny Hills’ 6-foot-7 center, scored a game-high 27 points, but had only five in the fourth quarter--two free throws, and a three-pointer with Sunny Hills trailing by 12 in the final 40 seconds. He scored 16 points in the first half.

“Mann’s a great player,” Hardeman said, “and if he gets the ball, he will annihilate you. But we made him work so hard to get open the entire game that I thought he was gassed by the fourth quarter.”

Troy used a patient offense and balanced scoring, something the Warriors didn’t have in a 16-point loss to Sunny Hills last month in the Brea-Olinda tournament.

“We were terrible in that game,” Hardeman said. “We just didn’t execute.”

Randy Abbott scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half to lead four Troy players in double figures. Tim Lein added 16 points, including 10 in the first half, Jim Falletta had 12 (six in the fourth quarter) and Santiago Allen added 11.

Mario Bertual scored 11 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter for Sunny Hills (13-3, 1-1).

Troy led, 47-39, at the end of the third quarter, but Sunny Hills had reduced the deficit to 49-44 on Mann’s free throws with 6 minutes 24 seconds left.

A layup by Scott Nielson and a tip-in by Falletta sparked a 16-8 Troy run during the next five minutes. The Warriors made 12 consecutive free throws during the run.

Hardeman was pleased with his team’s shot selection. The Warriors made their first seven shots and the score was tied, 17-17, at the end of the first quarter.

Abbott and Matt Cardillo each scored four points in the second quarter as Troy built a 31-28 halftime lead. Abbott, the Warriors’ 6-foot-1 point guard, added six points--three free throws and a three-pointer--in the third quarter as Troy began to pull away.

The victory kept Troy on top of the league standings, where the Warriors haven’t been in some time. Their most recent league title was in 1986.

“Beating Sunny Hills at their place put us in good shape,” Hardeman said. “But this is going to be a tough league and we have a lot of games to play.”

In other Freeway League games:

Sonora 73, Fullerton 60--Chris St. Clair scored 25 points for Sonora (10-7, 1-1). Pablo Garza scored 15 points for Fullerton.

Buena Park 62, La Habra 50--Angel Barrios scored eight of his 12 points in the second quarter when Buena Park (13-3, 2-0) outscored La Habra (3-12, 0-2), 13-5.