Quick Strike Carries Canoga Park : Boys’ basketball: Hunters need only 45 seconds to complete 14-0 run in second quarter, putting away Palmdale early in 89-75 victory in Hart tournament.

To say that it was over in a matter of seconds is correct, but it is a bit misleading.

It was a matter of seconds, but it wasn’t really over until the final buzzer sounded 2 1/2 quarters later.

Clinging to a two-point lead early in the second quarter, the Canoga Park High boys’ basketball team scored 14 unanswered points in 45 seconds to put away Palmdale early in a 89-75 victory in the first round of the Hart tournament Tuesday at Valencia High.

Canoga Park (8-2), ranked No. 3 in the area by The Times, received no points from its bench, but didn’t need any. Anthony Ellison, Carlos Harper and Aaron Lasley were virtually unstoppable, combining for 72 points for the Hunters, who won the consolation championship in the Fresno Buchanan tournament last weekend.

Palmdale (7-5), ranked No. 9 by The Times before the game, never led but came close in the first minute of the second quarter. Two quick baskets underneath by junior center Steve Eernisse (26 points) pulled Palmdale within 25-24.

But seconds later, trailing, 28-26, Palmdale was victimized by a rash of turnovers, including losing the ball on three consecutive inbounds plays underneath the Canoga Park basket. The mistakes helped the Hunters build a 16-point lead before Palmdale Coach Gary Phelps put an end to the embarrassment and called a timeout.

“We just panicked down there,” Phelps said. “We didn’t run the baseline like we were supposed to. And we’ll just have to chalk that up to a lack of experience.”

Applying the pressure on the inbounds passes was Harper, a 6-foot-3 junior guard who converted three turnovers into three baskets during the 14-0 run. Harper scored 13 of his 25 points in the second quarter.

Palmdale, however, responded with a 14-4 run to pull within, 46-40, with 36 seconds left in the half.

But with top guard Markus Carr on the bench for nearly seven minutes in the third quarter in foul trouble, the Falcons couldn’t put anything together in the second half.

“They didn’t handle the pressure very well with Markus on the bench,” said Canoga Park Coach Ralph Turner, who coached Carr a few years ago at an intermediate school in Lancaster.

Carr, who scored 10 of his 14 points in the first quarter, started the fourth quarter but had cooled off considerably and did not score again.

Brice Bryant’s short jumper to start the fourth quarter pulled Palmdale within eight points, but Canoga Park responded with a 10-0 run, with Ellison and Harper each scoring five for a 78-60 lead.

Lasley scored 21 points, including three dunks, and Ellison had 26 points and 10 rebounds.