The Canyon boys and Hart girls’ basketball teams advanced to the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section playoffs.
Canyon beat Dos Pueblos at home on Friday in Division 2A, 69-46.
Hart beat South Torrance on the road on Saturday in Division 2AA, 41-38.
The Valencia boys lost in the second round on Friday to Cabrillo, 52-46.
Here’s how Hart and Canyon kept their playoff runs alive:
Canyon boys erase early deficit to advance
Trailing 16-6 after the first quarter at Canyon High, the Canyon Cowboys locked in on defense the rest of the way to beat Dos Pueblos, 69-46.
Eric Kubel led Canyon with 26 points, while Chigo Osuji had 16 points and 11 rebounds and Isaac Yuhico had 10 points and six assists.
“We just kind of had a game plan against them where we wanted to pressure the ball and just kind of play the game within the game, which was trying to wear them out and trying to pressure them,” said Canyon head coach Ali Monfared in a phone interview. “They were a really, really good rebounding team, and so we wanted to do our best to pressure them full-court. I thought as the game went on, we ended up kind of doing a good job of that.”
Kubel didn’t score in the first quarter but was instrumental in the third quarter when Monfared said his team’s lead grew quickly from a four-point game to nearly 20.
“Our defensive pressure got us a couple easy buckets and then we were able to turn defense into offense,” Monfared said. “Eric had a big hand in terms of the shot-making, and that was really kind of fun to watch.”
Canyon is now set to travel to Rancho Mirage in the quarterfinals on Tuesday at 6 p.m. to take on the Rattlers. Rancho Mirage beat Palm Springs in the second round on Friday, 50-43.
“They’re very aggressive on the ball and so we have our hands full,” Monfared said. “We’re just really excited to continue to represent the school and continue to hope to do our best to extend this playoff run.”
The winner of Tuesday’s game would face either Los Altos or Oak Park in the semifinals on Friday.
Hart girls get tough win on the road
The Hart Hawks led by three at the half on Saturday and the game continued to be close throughout, but Hart went home from South Torrance with a 41-38 win.
Morgan Mack led the Hawks with 16 points. Emery Eav and Taylor Koebel each had eight points while Andrea Aina added seven points.
“We were struggling a bit offensively, but they’re a good defensive team,” said Hart head coach Jerry Mike in a phone interview. “It was pretty tough to get some good shots.”
Hart trailed by four at the end of the first quarter and led by seven after three quarters.
“They actually had a pretty good look at the rim for the last shot, just didn’t go in for them,” Mike said.
He added that Aina had one of the plays of the game with about a minute to go, diving to corral a loose ball before flipping it to Eav for an easy bucket.
Hart fans showed up in Torrance, with Mike saying that it felt like half the gym was rooting for the Hawks.
“It was a great playoff atmosphere,” Mike said. “The place was a small, older gym. It’s pretty cool. It’s got a nice feel to it, and the place was loud.”
Hart advances to the quarterfinals and is set to travel to Palos Verdes on Wednesday.
The winner of that game would face either Lynwood or North Torrance in the semifinals on Saturday.
