Go to the OCVarsity Hot Shots slide show to see all of the photos from this game.
Most Viewed Stories
Villa Park denies Canyon share of league title
VILLA PARK – Fourth place never felt so good.
The Villa Park boys basketball team couldn't move up or down from fourth place in the Century League standings, but rival Canyon had a chance to grab a share of the Century League title Thursday night.
At the end of the night, the Spartans played the role of spoiler, knocking off the Comanches, 61-52.
Canyon (20-7, 8-4) finished third while Foothill and Esperanza shared the league title. Foothill and Esperanza both finished at 9-3.
————————————————
————————————————
"We didn't want them to finish in first place," Villa Park's Luke Selway said. "This is our big rivalry game. We hate each other."
Selway played a big role, leading the Spartans (16-11, 7-5) with 22 points.
Villa Park led 54-41 in the fourth quarter, but Canyon went on a 9-1 run to cut the score to 55-50 with 35 seconds left.
From that point, Selway scored six points to help turn back the Canyon comeback.
"He's very Ginobili-esque," Villa Park coach Kevin Reynolds said of Selway, comparing him to Manu Ginobili of the San Antonio Spurs. "It doesn't look athletic, he doesn't look right, but it is extremely effective."
Dre Borst and Aaron Ezra scored 11 and 10 points, respectively for the Spartans.
Canyon was chasing Villa Park from the opening quarter. Villa Park led 18-12 at the end of the first quarter and 30-25 at halftime.
The lead increased to 39-29 in the third quarter, but Canyon managed to cut the deficit to five heading into the fourth quarter.
At the outset of the fourth, Villa Park outscored Canyon 9-0 to take a 52-38 lead.
Canyon didn't score its first points of the quarter until the 4:20 mark.
"The key was our defense," Reynolds said. "Our thing is we want to hold teams to under 55 points. We feel like we have a chance to win every night when we do that."
JoJo Ballestero led Canyon with 23 points.
