Century Defeats Sonora, 59-54

Century’s Thomas Harmon scored 26 points and Hector Beltran and Ron Aristondo each made a pair of free throws in the final 14 seconds to seal a 59-54 victory over Sonora in the semifinals of the Carl’s Jr. Holiday classic boys’ basketball tournament Wednesday at Century High.

Harmon also had 11 rebounds and four blocked shots and made nine of 11 shots from the field for Century (12-2), which will play Los Amigos, a 60-45 winner over Santiago, in the finals tonight.

“Thomas came up with a big-time game for us,” Century Coach Greg Coombs said. “He’s really improved his defense this season.”

Harmon’s performance offset a big game from Sonora point guard Sergio Hernandez, who finished with 26 points and eight rebounds. He made 10 of 11 free throws for the Raiders (11-3).

Hernandez brought Sonora within one, 55-54, on a three-point play with 1 minute 20 seconds remaining, but Century’s defense clamped down after that.

Harmon drew an offensive foul from Hernandez on Sonora’s next possession, then Century forced another turnover on a closely guarded, five-second violation with 24 seconds left.

“We’ve been so up and down all season,” Sonora Coach Mike Murphy said. “We’re really young, but we’re also talented.”

Chad Fister had 14 points on seven of 11 shooting for Sonora.