BOYS’ BASKETBALL : FREEWAY LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Third-Ranked Sonora Beats Troy for 19th Victory in a Row

If Sonora was looking past Troy because of its showdown with second-ranked Tustin today, it never showed.

In fact, the Troy were the last team to try to sneak a victory from third-ranked Sonora in its gym. The Raiders, remembering that Troy beat them twice last season to earn a share of the Freeway League title, have made it a point to play some of their best defense against the Warriors.

They did again Friday, bolting to a 27-6 lead and finishing with a 63-41 victory in front of about 600 at Sonora.

The victory--the 19th in a row for the Raiders (21-2, 8-0) since losing in December to Tustin, 49-47--put Sonora in great shape to claim a third consecutive league title. “We didn’t want to share the title this year. We want to win it outright,” Sonora Coach Mike Murphy said.

For the second time this season the Warriors (13-11, 4-4) buried themselves early in the face of Sonora’s defensive pressure. They were three of 15 from the field in the first half, and had 10 of their 19 turnovers in the first quarter.

Troy was only 13 of 49 (26.5%) from the field, five of 19 from three-point range. Sonora wasn’t blazing--24-55 (43.6%). But by outrebounding Troy, 39-27--including 14 by Josh Lien--and forcing Troy to miss shot after shot--including four breakaway layups--it didn’t matter.

“I was really happy the way we defended in the first quarter,” Murphy said. “When we got the big lead, I think we lost some intensity . . . but we played good.”

Sonora was led by Chad Fister with 16. “I think he’s really due for a big, breakout game,” Murphy said. Lien had 14 and reserve Tim Crow had 12. Jeff Sand had 14 for Troy.

And, at last, Murphy could think about the daunting task facing his team today at Tustin.

“We’re going to approach it as a real fun game,” he said. “There’s always so much tension and pressure in league games.”

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In other Freeway League games:

Sunny Hills 59, Buena Park 48--Sean Granillo scored 22 points and Ben Nicolas had 15 to lead Sunny Hills (8-16, 1-7).

Fullerton 65, La Habra 47--Sam Mankiewicz and Ryan Schatz each had eight rebounds and Seth LaTour had 17 points to lead Fullerton (16-7, 7-1). Corey Holbert had 11 points to lead La Habra, which drops to 10-13, 3-5.