Following a non-league loss to Marlborough over the weekend, the Lady Centurions bounced back with an emotional 62-54 road win over Canyon to sweep the season series.
“We just know that every time we play Canyon, it’s going to be competitive,” Saugus head coach Anthony Falasca said. “Whether either team won the previous game by 20 or by 30, every game we expect to be competitive.”
In December, the Centurions (17-7, 7-1) defeated the Cowboys (12-11, 5-3) at Saugus High School, and with the latest matchup being at Canyon, Falasca added he wanted the win a little more as he is a Cowboys alumnus.
“I think as a coach, you never know when it’s your last day to [play],” he said. “I was an alumni and I told Jasmine [Garcia], ‘Last time I was here I hit seven threes, go give me a couple tonight.’ And she came out today. She fought, man, she shot the heck out of the ball.”
Garcia led all Saugus players in scoring with 21 points on 7-for-12 shooting, and 5 for 10 from beyond the arc.
The win meant even more for Saugus due to some emotional circumstances: During the game, Falasca suffered a medical situation in the second half and had to be checked out by Canyon High School’s athletic trainer.
Falasca stayed at the game and continued to coach his team, sitting down on the bench.
After the game, Falasca confirmed he was OK in a phone call with The Signal and that he FaceTimed his players once he got home to tell them the news.
“I did a FaceTime with them, so they all know I’m OK now. But some of them were scared and didn’t know what was going on because they were like, ‘Coach, why are you sitting down? You never sit down,’” Falasca said. “It’s nice to know people care. I’ve got a lot of texts from parents, so yeah, I’m fine, just got a little lightheaded, a little dizzy … I got some fluids and I’m ready to go.”
With what happened off the court, the Lady Centurions didn’t let it affect them on the court.
EvaMarie Rios had an all-around performance with 12 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists. And in the second half, the Saugus defense held Canyon to just 49% shooting from the field.
As for Canyon, the Cowboys were once again led by Darby Dunn, who dropped 20 points in the loss and was a must-stop for the Centurions.
“We went into halftime up by one, and you know, we talked about this before the game. Darby’s a special player, and we knew she was going to get up for tonight,” Falasca said. “I think we held her under her average with a good little scheme.”
With the win, the Centurions improved to 7-1 in Foothill League play and look toward Friday’s matchup against the Valencia Vikings in what will be a fight for first place in the standings.
In the matchup’s first game in December at Valencia High School, the Centurions were defeated, 77-36.
“I guarantee you a different team is going to show up this Friday night than what showed up at Valencia a couple of months ago,” Falasca said. “We’ve had this game circled and they’re one of the best teams that I’ve seen in a long, long time. But that’s why we play sports. You play sports because you never know what could happen.”
The Vikings and Centurions play Friday at Saugus High School with tip-off scheduled for 5 p.m.
The Cowboys will look to bounce back from the loss on the road Friday at West Ranch High School against the Wildcats with tip-off at 5 p.m.
After Tuesday night’s games, here are scores from around the Foothill League:
Valencia 63, Hart 24: The Lady Vikings (18-4, 7-0) secured the road victory over the Hart Hawks (8-15, 3-5).
Valencia sophomore Kamila Basyrova led all Vikings players with 24 points and is now 13 points shy of 1,000-career points.
Basyrova would be the third girls’ basketball player in the Santa Clarita Valley to cross the 1,000-career point mark this season.
The Vikings hit the road Friday against the Centurions at Saugus High School while the Hawks look to bounce back in league play Tuesday against the Grizzlies.
West Ranch 52, Castaic 25: The Wildcats (18-5, 4-4) earned the home win over the Castaic Coyotes (5-14, 0-8).
The Coyotes play again on Friday against the Grizzlies while the Wildcats look to continue their winning ways against the Cowboys at home.
Both games tip off at 5 p.m.
Photos below from the Centurion’s win over Canyon:
India Wright (35) during the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s game at Canyon High School on Jan. 20, 2026. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal
