Quick Canyon Beats Foothill

Through three quarters Thursday, Foothill had taken 26 shots and committed 29 turnovers.

The Knights, the defending Century League champions, were overwhelmed by Canyon’s quickness and swarming full-court pressure and fell to the Comanches, 70-41.

Foothill (7-12, 1-2 in league) came into the season as one of the league favorites. But five players, including two starters, were suspended from the team by the school in mid-December for breaking school rules, and the Knights (4-3 at the time) have been trying to stay afloat since.

There was no helping them Thursday.

Four Canyon players--Sara Mohkami (13 points, six steals), Meghan O’Neill (17 points, five steals), Brandie Mercer (10 points) and Stephanie Hillon (four points)--had four steals or more.

Canyon forced 38 turnovers and had 26 steals.

“Their quickness and intensity definitely overwhelmed us,” Foothill Coach Ty Watkins said.

Canyon scored 16 points off turnovers--13 off steals--in the first half to take a 32-14 lead. The Comanches pressed Foothill until the final 5 minutes 33 seconds, at which point Foothill had scored 26 points and trailed by 27.

“That’s been our style all season--up-tempo, score off transition every chance we get,” Canyon Coach Nelson Herrera said. “We have good depth. We live and die by the press.”

Canyon (17-2, 2-1) has won two in a row since losing to Villa Park, 45-44. It snapped a 13-game winning streak.

“[That loss] forced us to concentrate more,” said O’Neill, a junior guard. “Practices have been more intense. I told [Villa Park’s] Missy Bynon, she better be ready for us.”

Herrera called the loss “a blessing in disguise.

“For a while, we were not taking every team seriously like we should have,” he said.

There was no such problem against Foothill.

In other Century League games:

Villa Park 69, Santa Ana Valley 30--Missy Bynon had 18 points and 14 assists for Villa Park (12-4, 3-0), which took a 27-2 first-quarter lead. Jennifer O’Keefe added 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Orange 51, El Modena 43--Rachelle Ngayan’s 15 points helped Orange (10-6, 1-2)--winless two years ago--exceed last year’s victory total.