Martin Helps Trabuco Hills Upset Canyon in Overtime

For the first 28 minutes of Friday night’s game, 6-foot-6 Brennon Martin, Trabuco Hills’ tallest player, shot from long range again and again and all the junior forward heard were clanks.

He had only two put-backs in 11 shot attempts.

But Martin never backed off. He made five of five three-point attempts down the stretch and the Mustangs erased a 15-point deficit for a 56-54 overtime victory at Canyon in a Division II-AA first-round playoff game.

Trabuco Hills plays Tuesday against Moreno Valley Rancho Verde.

Evan Fields (26 points, 13 rebounds) kept Trabuco Hills in the game, but down the stretch it was the heroics of Martin, who ended with 19 points, that sealed Canyon’s fate.

“I got to take that shot. I’m a shooter and that’s my role,” Martin said. “When they’re not going in, I still have to take them. And when they start going in, I’m still going to shoot them.”

It was the second time in three seasons that Trabuco Hills, an at-large team with a 12-14 record, has knocked off the Century League champion in the opening round. Two years ago, the Mustangs won at Villa Park.

“We had a tough year,” Martin said. “But we’ve stayed together, so this was a huge win for us.”

And a huge disappointment for Canyon (18-8). Coach Rob Alexander ended his fourth year with what he termed, “My worst loss as a coach.”

“We couldn’t shoot the ball,” he said. “I don’t have another explanation.”

Century League Most Valuable Player Neil Hammad, who averages 19.2 points a game, scored four points and made only two of 16 field-goal attempts.

Canyon center Ryan Romberg scored 16 of his team-high 25 points in the first half and the Comanches led, 31-18.

But in the second half, Fields, who made his final five lay-ins, got hot. Then back-to-back three-pointers by Martin made it 45-43 with 3:43 to go. Fields’ three-point play made it 46-46. Martin made it 49-48 with his third three-pointer at the 1:36 mark.