Four Canyon Cowboys scored in double figures Tuesday night as the boys’ basketball team took down Saugus at home, 63-51, for Canyon’s first win over the Centurions since 2016.
Seniors Chigozie Osuji and Eric Kubel each scored 18 to lead the way for Canyon (6-1, 1-0).
Osuji added 10 rebounds to give himself a double-double. He got three of those on offensive rebounds en route to six second-chance points.
“That’s just something I always have to keep my head to always be aggressive,” Osuji said, “because coach told me, when I’m more aggressive, it opens more shots for everyone else.”
It was a one-point game at the half as Canyon led, 29-28. But the Cowboys opened up a 10-point lead over Saugus (2-3, 0-1) by the end of the third after exploding for 20 points in the frame.
Canyon head coach Ali Monfared said the third quarter has always gone the way of Saugus in the past, and that’s been the catalyst for those victories, even against other teams, so he made sure his players knew the importance of winning that quarter.
“We had at least 10 games from this season and last season that we dissected,” Monfared said, “and the third quarter was always their quarter where, when it was a one- or two-point game in their favor or not, they would turn it on. And we said, ‘Enough is enough, we want the third quarter be our quarter.’”
Junior Isaac Yuhico added 14 points, four assists, four rebounds and three steals as the catalyst for the Canyon offense.
Saugus rallied after a slow start to go ahead 19-16 at the beginning of the second quarter. Canyon immediately responded with a 9-0 run, though, and the Centurions had to claw back to make it almost even at the half.
Senior Max Guardado was immense for Saugus with a game-high 22 points and 14 rebounds. Senior Bryce Mejia added 11 points and six steals with three triples, while sophomore Aiden Pisarnwongs had six points, five rebounds and three steals.
Kubel was being heavily guarded throughout the game and rarely found himself with space to shoot. He was still able to knock down a couple of threes in the third quarter as part of a nine-point effort in the frame that helped the Cowboys to lengthen their advantage.
A starter for Monfared since his sophomore year, Kubel said this feels like the year that Canyon challenges for its first league title since 2012 after starting with six wins in seven. The lone loss came against Rolling Hills Prep in the championship game of San Gabriel High’s Thanksgiving Feast Tournament.
“It’s the first time I’ve been here that we’ve started like that,” Kubel said. “So I’m super excited … Our main goal is win league for the first time since 2012, and then to win CIF.”
Canyon will look to continue its strong start to the season on Friday when it travels to West Ranch.
Saugus has its first home league game on Friday against Valencia.
Around the league
The Valencia Vikings (2-6, 1-0) went on the road and beat the Hart Hawks (3-2, 0-1), 70-62, on Tuesday.
West Ranch started its league campaign off with a win as the Wildcats (3-0, 1-0) took down the Castaic Coyotes (5-3, 0-1), 73-47.
Castaic will look to rebound on Friday when it hosts Golden Valley (4-3, 0-0), which had the league bye on Tuesday.
