Canoga Park Beats Hart for Title, and for Respect

Gone are the days of joking about the Canoga Park High boys’ basketball team--a program that languished in mediocrity until Coach Ralph Turner arrived last season.

The Hunters shall no longer be called “The Hunted.”

Canoga Park outlasted host Hart in a wild fourth quarter to win the Hart tournament title, 59-54, in front of a near capacity crowd Friday night at Valencia High.

Forward Carloes Harper Jr. led the way, as he did the whole tournament. He scored 23 points, 16 coming in the second half.

With scoring outbursts of 25, 38, and 28 points in the previous games, Harper was named most valuable player of the tournament.

But he said Turner is the true MVP of Canoga Park (8-2).

“It’s the coaching, big-time coaching that has turned us around,” said Harper, after the Hunters outscored the Indians (9-4), 25-20, in the final quarter. “We have the confidence that we can beat anybody.”

But Canoga Park certainly had its trouble spots in a championship game that could best be described as a struggle.

The Hunters committed 16 turnovers and, after jumping out to a 15-11 lead, were outscored, 12-2, in the second quarter while making only one of 11 shots.

But Hart, which enjoyed a 14-2 run that gave it a 25-17 lead early in the third quarter, also struggled. The Indians missed several easy shots, including four layups in the third quarter, which ended with the teams tied, 34-34.

“At times we controlled the tempo, like we wanted to,” Hart Coach Mike May said, “but we couldn’t execute. But [Canoga Park] is athletic and they played well.”

A thundering dunk by Aaron Lasley gave the Hunters a 51-44 lead with 2 minutes 17 seconds left. But then Canoga Park got sloppy on defense and allowed a 6-2 Hart run that included two back-door layups by Brian Kirk, to cut it to 53-50.

With 40 seconds left, Anthony Ellison (11 points) stole the ball from Indian guard Freddie Torres and dunked to make it 56-50.

“I knew he was coming, and I just reacted,” Ellison said.

The hunt was all but over for the Hunters.

Jamal Hagg added 11 points for Canoga Park. Cory Johnson led Hart with 12.

In other Hart tournament games:

Antelope Valley 81, Simi Valley 78--Jon Norman beat the buzzer with a shot from beyond midcourt after taking the inbounds pass for the Antelopes (10-4) in the third-place game.

Pero Vasiljevic, a 6-foot-9 center who had 33 points, made three free throws after being fouled attempting a three-pointer at the top of the key to tie the score, 78-78, for the Pioneers (8-3).

Tony Walker scored 21 points and Ziarre Williams added 19 for Antelope Valley.

Beverly Hills 69, Highland 66--Kenny Harvey scored 14 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Normans (9-2) in the fifth-place game.

John Burrell of Highland scored 28 points.

Notre Dame 66, North Hollywood 54--Tim Anderson paced the Knights (7-7) with 23 points in the seventh-place game.

Shannon Johnson scored 16 points and had 12 rebounds for North Hollywood (3-10).

Palmdale 68, Atwater 51--Steve Eernisse scored 22 points and Theo Carino added 14 for the Falcons (11-4) in the ninth-place game.

Glendale 68, Bakersfield West 56--Steve Avetyan scored 35 points for the Dynamiters (4-9) in the 11th-place game.

San Fernando 63, Littlerock 60--Sergio Rascan, a 6-7 center, scored 19 points and sophomore Sean Atkins added 13 for the Tigers in the 13th-place game.

Bronson Pitts was the top scorer with 29 points for Littlerock (4-8).