Hart Gets Back in Running : High school basketball: Struggling Indians slip past Canyon on Parvinchiha’s free throws, 55-53.

The motto around Hart High this basketball season is “Drive for Five.”

But the Indians, winners of four consecutive Foothill League titles, have struggled just driving to survive.

The patient is still breathing, however, after Hart’s Amir Parvinchiha made two free throws with one second left for a 55-53 victory over neighborhood rival Canyon Saturday night at Valencia High.

“We have a tradition,” Hart Coach Mike May said. “But tradition doesn’t win ballgames on the court.”

Indeed, the Indians (10-10, 3-3) had to earn it.

They trailed by as many as eight points in the first half, but continually scratched back.

There were five lead changes in the second half.

After a timeout with 12 seconds left, Hart point guard Mike Posey drove the lane and put up a shot, which missed.

The 6-foot-2 Parvinchiha pulled in the rebound and attempted a put-back.

Canyon’s Mike Moye was called for a foul as the buzzer sounded and the crowd erupted.

One second was put back on the clock, each team called a time out and Parvinchiha sat. Thinking.

“I was pretty nervous sitting there,” the junior forward said. “But when I put my foot on the line, I just thought about practice, how I was hitting my free throws during the shoot-around.”

Canyon Coach Greg Hayes, incensed by the call, was philosophical afterward.

“We don’t make excuses or point fingers,” he said. “You could talk about the call, but we had a chance for a defensive rebound and didn’t get it.”

Parvinchiha’s heroics overshadowed another impressive game by Canyon’s Greg Minor.

The senior guard scored 30 points, including 12 of his team’s 15 points in the fourth quarter.

Brian Nichols added nine points for the Cowboys (10-9, 3-3), who defeated Hart, 63-56, on Jan. 6 and also beat the Indians in Hart’s holiday tournament.

Nick Lewandowski scored 16 points for the Indians, while Parvinchiha had 13.

Many of the points scored by Lewandowski and Parvinchiha came on layups set up by Posey, who had six points and nine assists.

Thus, it took very little thought on May’s part as to who should have the ball as the final seconds ticked off.

“He was creating all night,” May said of Posey.

“All I wanted was to get the ball into his hands and let him create again.”

The result created a logjam in the Foothill standings.

Hart and Canyon are tied for third place, one-half game behind Saugus (3-2) and 1 1/2 games behind Burbank (4-1).

The drive may have taken a detour, but at least the wheels haven’t fallen off for the Indians.