ANAHEIM — If you asked Canyon boys basketball coach Nate Harrison how the Comanches ended up in the CIF-SS Division 2AA championship game, he’d say it’s because his players are fearless.
Canyon was again fearless with the size advantage against them.
The Comanches were fearless when not shooting well from the field.
And Canyon showed no fear when trailing Westlake of Westlake Village by five points with two minutes to play in the third quarter of Saturday’s championship game at Honda Center.
The Comanches erased the deficit, closed out the third quarter on an 8-0 run and used that momentum to beat Westlake, 71-54, and capture the Division 2AA title.
Harrison said the run at the end of the third quarter and into the fourth turned the tides of the game, and that a floater from Anthony Ballestero at the end of the third was a key play.
“Obviously, the shot at the end of the third quarter was a big momentum swing,” he said. “I think one of the keys was the press at the end of the game. It sped them up and got them to shoot quickly.”
Canyon (28-4) took a 48-45 lead into the fourth quarter and Nick Anderson opened the period with back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Comanches a 54-47 lead early in the fourth.
Westlake (25-8) battled back behind seven straight points from Isaiah Brooks which brought the Canyon lead to 58-54 with just over three minutes to play.
The Comanches outscored Westlake, 13-0, from that point forward to close out the win.
Canyon shot just 2 of 14 from 3-point range in the first half, but went 8 of 13 from behind the arc in the second half, and Harrison pointed out his team’s ability to have a short memory.
“Our kids aren’t afraid,” he said. “We’ll shoot a lot of 3s and we’ll shoot a pretty good percentage. We feel like (3s) are good shots for us, so we’re going to keep taking them.”
Ballestero got off to a slow start, scoring just two points on 1 of 4 shooting in the first half, but the senior turned it on in the second half, scoring 18 points and finishing with 20.
“I’ve always had the shooters’ mentality,” Ballestero said. “(If I miss) one, two or three, the next one is going in… In the second half I tried to take it upon myself and take more shots.”
Anderson, a 6-foot-1 junior, finished with 20 points and 16 rebounds all while defending one of Westlake’s top scoring threats, 6-foot-8 Marcos Soto.
Anderson held Soto to four points on 2 of 6 shooting and said that he continued what he has been doing all season long.
“Coach always tells me to crash the glass,” he said. “I’m a small dude, so I always try and use my will to and play as hard as I can.”
Devonte Parker rounded out Canyon’s double-digit scorers finishing with 14 points.
Michael Hayon and Jeremiah Gray led Westlake with 15 points apiece.
Contact the writer: dugland@ocregister.com
