Hart Silences Ice-Cold Canyon, 52-26 : High school basketball: Cowboys shoot 16%, make one basket in last 20 minutes.

Canyon High, winner of 10 of its previous 11 games with two big-time scorers leading the way, wanted to come into Foothill League rival Hart’s gym and make some noise Saturday night.

Noises like swish to make a standing-room-only Hart crowd go hush .

But the only noise the Cowboys made was the clank of their shots bouncing off the rim--when they reached the rim--in an ugly 52-26 setback.

Hart held Canyon to one point in the third quarter and only one field goal in the final 20 minutes 50 seconds.

Greg Minor, who was averaging more than 23 points a game, finished with nine. Charles Woodard, averaging more than 21, managed two.

“We really didn’t know what to expect from them,” Hart guard Eric Spindt said. “But we had them rattled by the second quarter. You could see it in their eyes.”

Hart improved to 17-1, 4-0 in league play; Canyon (13-5, 3-1) shot only 16%.

Canyon scored only one basket after the 4:50 mark of the second quarter--a rebound and put-back by Brian Connelly with 3:18 to play and the Indians leading by 24 points.

Canyon Coach Greg Hayes afterward told his players to forget about the dismal performance--they’d never have to watch game film.

“It’s a throw-away game,” he said. “It’s done. We don’t want to analyze it any further than the final score. (Hart) played extremely well--total domination. We came out tight and got tighter.”

Hart led by nine points at the end of the first quarter and 16 at halftime, with center Cody Patterson (16 points and eight rebounds) scoring 12 points in the half.

As Canyon’s effort in the second half became more futile--the Cowboys trailed by as many as 30 points--the contest began to resemble a Hart-Canyon football game without whistles. Pushing, slapping and elbowing persisted until Canyon guard Chad Phillips lost his temper and charged Patterson at mid-court. Phillips was assessed a technical foul.

In another incident, Woodard appeared to take an elbow to the mouth but was called for an intentional foul. After Adam Dover missed both free throws, a whistle blew and one of the referees was seen yelling angrily at Woodard.

Hayes was forced to use his last timeout to break the tension, after which Canyon was given the ball. No foul was called but Canyon, once again, was unable to do anything with the ball.