After the first week of Foothill League games, the Saugus boys’ basketball team was 0-2 and in danger of missing out on the league title a year after the Centurions won their second in program history.
It was part of a 2-4 start to the season, but head coach Alfredo Manzano said he was never worried about his team.
“The 0-2 didn’t affect us like most people thought it probably would, and we only lost one game after that,” Manzano said. “So, I’m proud of them. They deserve it. They earned it.”
The Centurions went 17-7 the rest of the way, including 9-1 in league play. That run spurred Saugus to the league title, captured Wednesday night at Saugus High with a 93-45 win over the Castaic Coyotes.
Saugus (19-9, 9-3) is sharing the title with Valencia after the Vikings beat Golden Valley on Monday.
“I just feel incredibly blessed, very accomplished,” said Saugus senior Adrian Correa. “It makes it feel like these last four years, it just comes together and it works out. It feels amazing.”
Correa was part of an all-senior starting lineup that Manzano used for the entire first quarter on senior night on Wednesday. That group, none of whom typically start, answered the call and gave Saugus a 23-16 lead after the first quarter.
Correa had 10 of his 12 points in that frame.
“I had known I was gonna start since yesterday, and I just like to play free,” Correa said. “You know, it’s basketball. I love basketball. So I just came out, you know, did my thing. I got a few open looks from my teammates. You know, they work to get me open, and it just felt amazing.”
Manzano put his regular starters in the game at the start of the second quarter. By halftime, the Centurions’ lead over Castaic (10-16, 0-12) swelled to 25 and continued to grow throughout the second half.
Junior Braydon Harmon led the way with 28 points and nine rebounds for Saugus. Senior Max Guardado helped out with 11 points while seniors Cole Harmon and Logan Lairson had 10 points each. Senior JP Rios dished out five assists and senior Bryce Mejia had eight points.
Manzano said seeing his seniors pick up back-to-back league titles, despite not being seen as the most talented group, was special. That group actually won titles all four years, also winning as freshmen and then on the junior varsity team as sophomores.
“It’s just a testament of the culture of the guys buying in,” Manzano said. “I’m really proud of the guys that stick with it. Sometimes it’s hard, but they rally up.”
Castaic saw its season end on Wednesday. The Coyotes were led by senior Wesley Tucker’s 13 points while senior Alvin Clark added nine.
Saugus now heads into the CIF Southern Section postseason on a five-game winning streak. The Centurions also had to battle through one of the tightest league races in quite some time, with five of the seven teams in contention until the last couple weeks.
Saugus and Valencia were the two teams to finish atop the league, though Canyon, West Ranch and Golden Valley all had legitimate title chances at one point.
“This regular season was huge,” Mejia said. “We found our groove late in the season. I mean, we’re peaking at the right time, ready to make a playoff run.”
The latter three teams all finished 7-5 in the Foothill League. Canyon earned third place via tiebreakers, while West Ranch took fourth place despite Wednesday’s loss to Golden Valley via a coin flip.
Those two teams have earned automatic playoff berths, as have Saugus and Valencia, while Golden Valley has to hope that its 17-11 overall record and No. 99 ranking in Monday’s section rankings are good enough to be considered for an at-large bid.
Playoff brackets are set to be released at noon on Sunday.
Here’s what else happened on the final day of Foothill League basketball action on Wednesday:
Boys’ basketball
Golden Valley 60, West Ranch 56 (OT): The Golden Valley Grizzlies (17-11, 7-5) needed overtime to beat the visiting West Ranch Wildcats (12-14, 7-5), 60-56, but West Ranch was given fourth place in the league after the two teams finished with the same record.
Zach Christoffersen led the Grizzlies with 22 points while Donovan Webb had 13 and Alex Villejo had 12.
Hart 74, Canyon 67: It hasn’t been a season to write home about for the Hart Hawks (11-17, 3-9), but they finished the season strong with a 74-67 win at home over Canyon.
Girls’ basketball
Hart 41, Canyon 40: The Hart Hawks (20-7, 11-1) earned their third straight league title with a 41-40 win at home over Canyon (14-14, 7-5).
Hart is sharing the title with Valencia after the Vikings beat Golden Valley on Monday.
Morgan Mack led the Hawks with 16 points. Andrea Aina had 13 and Emery Eav had seven.
Lanie Rafkind led Canyon with 22 points.
Saugus 67, Castaic 21: The Saugus Centurions (17-11, 7-5) took down the visiting Castaic Coyotes (7-19, 1-11), 67-21, to finish off the regular season.
Junior EvaMarie Rios became the seventh Saugus girl to reach 1,000 career points with her 18 points. Rachael Correa added 12 points.
West Ranch 30, Golden Valley 21: The West Ranch Wildcats (12-15, 3-9) finished off their regular season with a 30-21 road win at Golden Valley (7-17, 2-10).
GALLERY — HART AT CANYON GIRLS’ BASKETBALL (Photos courtesy of Cole Franquiz)
