La Canada Isn’t Feeling in Neighborly Mood, 60-37

Center Matt Moore and his La Canada High teammates were hungry for their Division III-A wild-card game against next-door neighbor St. Francis on Wednesday night.

They had a feast.

Moore scored 32 points and the Spartans routed St. Francis, 60-37, in front of a capacity crowd at La Canada. The Spartans advance to the first round of the playoffs Friday night at Morningside.

A quarter of a mile separates the campuses of these schools, but the Golden Knights (16-11) weren’t in the same area code against the Spartans (19-8) without second-leading scorer Anton Cunningham.

Cunningham, who averages 18.3 points per game, was out with a hyperextended knee, leaving St. Francis short-handed and simply two short to defend against Moore, a 6-foot-8 junior.

Moore had 12 baskets, all layups.

“We were fired up,” Moore said. “We lost in the first round the last two years. We didn’t want to lose again.”

Especially to St. Francis, which split two close games with La Canada during the regular season.

Moore consistently beat double coverage down low for 16 of La Canada’s 24 points at halftime. But the Spartans led by only two points at the break.

La Canada finally pulled away in the third quarter.

Moore turned the two-point lead into a seven-point margin by scoring five unanswered points on a layup and three free throws. La Canada led, 35-28, with Moore accounting for 25 of them at that point.

Then guard David Hyun got into the act. He closed out the quarter with two baskets, including a three pointer, to make the lead 44-32.

Hyun scored 13 of his 15 points in the final 11 minutes.

St. Francis made 45% of its shots and committed only one turnover in the first half, but the Golden Knights were limited to 13 points in the final 16 minutes.

Forward Anthony Johnson of St. Francis, who averages 21 points and 11.8 rebounds, was held to 15 points and three rebounds by the Spartans.

“What if we had Cunningham?” St. Francis Coach John Jordan asked. “It’s a mystery you’ll never know.

“But that’s like saying, ‘What if?’ The guys were trying too hard to make things happen in the second half.”

Cabrillo 75, Santa Paula 70--The Cardinals (15-9) couldn’t hold a 34-32 halftime lead and lost a Division III-A wild-card game at Santa Paula.

After staying with Cabrillo (15-9) in the first half, Santa Paula was outscored in the third quarter, 18-9. Josh Jimenez scored 28 points and Willie Zavala added 16 for Santa Paula.

Brethren Christian 85, Providence 48--Bobby Chalermsopone scored 19 points, but the Pioneers (13-10) lost a Division IV-A wild-card game at Brethren Christian.

Jacob Brown scored 19 points for Brethren Christian (14-12).