Saugus senior Bryce Mejia gave his coaches and teammates an early Christmas present on Monday at Grant High School.
Facing Foothill League rival Canyon in the championship game of the Winter Slam Jam Tournament, Mejia hit his second game-winning shot in as many games to lift the Centurions to a 63-61 victory and a tournament title.
It was a revenge game of sorts for Saugus (8-4, 2-2) as the Cowboys (10-4, 2-1) beat the Centurions in their first league meeting of the season.
Saugus head coach Alfredo Manzano said the Centurions were down in both that game and the semifinals against Palisades before coming back to win both. Mejia had the game-winning shot at the buzzer in both games to extend Saugus’ winning streak to six games.
“We definitely had some adversity,” Manzano said in a phone interview. “I mean, every game we were down at some point, double digits against Palisades, we were down 11 in the fourth quarter. Against Canyon, we were down early in the first half, even in the second half, so it was great for our boys.”
Mejia finished with 20 points and three steals in the win over Canyon. Manzano said he doesn’t remember if he’s ever had a player hit buzzer-beaters in back-to-back games.
“There’s not even an opportunity for the other team to get the ball,” Manzano said. “On both of those shots, he ends up on the floor. So, tough shots, but fortunately he made them.”
Senior Max Guardado helped out with 20 points and nine rebounds for Saugus against Canyon, while junior Braydon Harmon had 11 points and senior Andrew Phan had nine assists off the bench.
Saying he’s never had a group where he relies on his entire roster to produce in any given game, Manzano praised his players for coming up in the clutch.
“We’re kind of going through which guys are gonna produce for us (on a given night),” Manzano said. “If they’re not, we go through somebody else. And they all know that, they all get it, they all understand.”
Canyon was led by senior Eric Kubel with 27 points against Saugus. Junior Isaac Yuhico added 13 points and senior Chigozie Osuji had nine.
Osuji had 29 points and Kubel had 27 in the Cowboys’ 71-48 semifinal victory over Legacy Christian Academy.
The Centurions will hope to use the momentum gained in their next tournament at St. Francis High School in La Cañada. Their first game is set for Thursday against Westlake, which beat Valencia by 41 earlier this year.
“It’s gonna be a tough tournament for us, but hey, we got some momentum going in, some guys are in the right mindset,” Manzano said. “If it goes great, great. If it doesn’t, we’re still on the right mindset where we could kinda get ready for the second half of league.”
Canyon is set to face Duarte in tournament action on Thursday.
