FREEWAY LEAGUE BOYS’ BASKETBALL : La Habra Gets Wake-Up Call, Beats Fullerton

La Habra shook off the early-morning cobwebs and the effects of a close loss to Sonora only 13 hours earlier to defeat Fullerton, 55-45, in a Freeway League boys’ basketball third-place playoff game Saturday at Fullerton High.

“We knew if we wanted to keep playing, we’d have to win this one,” La Habra Coach Frank McCarroll said. “We just put Friday behind us and went out and did what we had to do.”

Ken Cauley had 14 points and five assists to lead the Highlanders (17-10, 6-5 in league), who automatically qualified for the Southern Section Division III-AA playoffs. Fullerton (14-13, 5-6) will apply for an at-large bid, but Coach Tony McCabe isn’t optimistic.

“This was it,” McCabe said. “We just got a little cold.”

The Indians made 24% of their field goals in the second half, and shot 32% (16 of 50) for the game.

Still, the Indians took a 21-14 lead one minute into the second quarter when Ryan Schatz, who had 13 points, scored on a driving layup.

But La Habra came back on the strength of its outside shooting. Two three-pointers by reserve guard Justin Marshall and another by reserve Steve McAnally, helped pull Fullerton out of its zone as the Highlanders took a 27-26 halftime lead.

“That’s been the strength of this team all year,” McCarroll said. “I always thought we had great depth; we just kept battling.”

So did Fullerton.

Chris Young, a 5-foot-7 point guard who had a game-high 16 points, scored the first six points of the third quarter.

Then, Fullerton sophomore Sam Mankiewicz added two free throws to give the Indians a 34-27 lead with 6 minutes 5 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

La Habra’s 6-7 center Andrija Kristich, who played only four-plus minutes in the first half because of foul trouble, helped the Highlanders’ second-half rally.

He had seven points in the fourth quarter, when La Habra outscored Fullerton, 19-7, and eight second-half rebounds. Kristich finished with 11 points and nine rebounds.

Fullerton’s last lead came with 6:52 remaining after Seth LaTour made one of two free throws for a 39-37 lead.

La Habra outscored Fullerton, 9-2, over the next four minutes and Cauley’s driving three-point play gave the Highlanders a 46-41 lead with 2:39 remaining.

Cauley made a short jumper in the lane off a Kristich assist and another layup and three free throws by Kristich pushed the lead to 53-43 with 43 seconds remaining, sealing the victory.