Canyon Tournament : Lee Takes His Turn at Giving Newport Harbor Last-Second Win, 64-63

Coming up with last-minute dramatics is becoming almost routine for the Newport Harbor High School boys’ basketball team.

Senior guard Chris Lee’s fallaway jump shot with a second remaining lifted Newport Harbor to 64-63 victory over Anaheim on Friday in the championship game of the Canyon tournament at Canyon High School.

Guard Bill Nguyen’s 3-point shot at the buzzer defeated Santa Ana, 56-55, on Thursday and sent Newport Harbor into the championship game.

“I can’t take many more of these finishes,” Newport Harbor Coach Jerry DeBusk said. “I will need a few days off after the kind of games we played this week.”

Newport Harbor (9-4) opened the tournament by defeating Tennyson, 65-61, in overtime, then slipped past Villa Park, 60-51, before the victories over Santa Ana and Anaheim.

Lee, who was named the tournament’s most valuable player, scored 18 of his game-high 25 points in the second half.

Anaheim (6-5), one of the most improved teams in the county after finishing 1-19 last season, couldn’t put the game away in the final minutes.

The Colonists had a 59-54 lead with about a minute and a half to play, but Lee’s 4-point play that included a 3-point shot and a free throw cut the lead to 59-58 with 1:26 remaining.

Lupe Alvarez had a chance to give Anaheim a 3-point lead with 26 seconds remaining but missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Newport Harbor, trailing by one, 63-62, got the rebound. The Sailors brought the ball downcourt, and after a scramble under the basket, Lee picked up a loose ball and scored the winning basket as time ran out.

Senior forward Scott Gray added 22 points for Newport Harbor; junior forward Danny Castro had 22 for Anaheim.

In the third-place game:

Santa Ana 89, Cabrillo 55--Senior guard Mike Zamora scored 29 points and teammate Chauncy Woolridge added 15 as the Saints (11-4) captured third place. The Saints led, 45-26, at halftime. Cabrillo (9-2) was led by forward Aaron Barksdale, who scored 9 points. Jose Chavez and Oscar Wilson each scored 13 points for the Saints.

In the consolation championship:

San Francisco Lowell 75, Esperanza 54--Akili Jones scored 27 points to lead Lowell (10-2) to the consolation championship. Lowell led by 2, 15-13, at the end of the first quarter then outscored Esperanza, 24-13, to take a 39-26 lead. Joe Foss scored 15 points for Esperanza (5-6).

In consolation games:

Pomona 61, Canyon 60--Jason McWilliams made a 3-point field goal at the buzzer to give Pomona the victory. McWilliams scored 25 points and teammate Mike Victor 18. Kevin Wilborn scored 17 points and Bryan Van Noy 14 for Canyon (8-5).

Villa Park 61, Canyon JV 46--Canyon led, 42-40, going into the fourth quarter but was outscored, 21-4. Chris Johnson scored 19 points and Chris Kirby 16 for Villa Park.