Minor Guts Out Canyon Victory

Hobbling up and down the court, Greg Minor strapped Canyon High, team Walking Wounded, onto his back and carried the Cowboys through the first round of the playoffs.

Despite nagging groin and ankle injuries, Minor scored 37 points and led the Cowboys to a 74-72 victory over Buena on Tuesday night in a Southern Section Division I-A game at Canyon.

Minor, who scored 24 of Canyon’s 36 second-half points--including four in crunch time--wasn’t going to Disneyland after the game. He was going to bed.

“I’m very beat up and my legs don’t feel too good,” said Minor, whose injury-plagued team starts a third-string center and lists four junior varsity players on the roster because of injuries. “But I’m used to it.”

Minor would be feeling mental anguish as well had Canyon (16-10) not held fast in the fourth quarter.

The Cowboys led by 15 points early in the fourth quarter but saw their lead whittled to one with 45 seconds left. Buena’s 6-foot-5 center Ceneka Shaw led the charge, scoring nine of his 15 points in the fourth quarter, most from the post against Canyon’s smaller front line.

Mike Golden’s steal and layup brought the Bulldogs (15-10) to within 70-69.

“It was all there,” Buena Coach Glen Hannah said, smelling a victory. “Our kids showed a lot of guts at the end.”

But Minor showed a little more.

He sank a jump shot from the lane with 27 seconds to play and sank the Bulldogs 18 seconds later with two free throws.

“He’s been beat up all year but he plays through the pain,” said Canyon Coach Greg Hayes. “He just digs deep and finds a little more.”

And he found a way to send Canyon into the second round.