CENTURY LEAGUE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Canyon Hits the Boards for Victory

SANTA ANA —  Canyon High School, trying to rebound from an 11-13 record last season, knew what to do in its Century League opener against Santa Ana Valley Friday night.

The Comanches rebounded.

Kevin Wilborn scored 18 points and pulled down 15 rebounds and Charles Sanders added nine points and eight rebounds to lead Canyon to a 67-54 victory in the Century League opener for both teams at Century High School.

Wilborn, a 6-foot-4 forward, and Sanders, a 6-6 center, dominated Santa Ana Valley’s short lineup inside as the Comanches held a 42-25 edge in rebounding.

Despite the victory, Canyon Coach Steve Sabins wasn’t fully satisfied.

“We usually rebound pretty well,” he said. “We came out ready to play, almost too ready.

“We were so excited, we couldn’t execute very well.”

But it was enough to pull ahead early.

The Comanches (8-7) capitalized on 14 turnovers by Santa Ana Valley to take a 35-25 halftime lead.

Canyon’s front line also was a factor early. Wilborn had 13 points and nine rebounds by halftime and Sanders scored all of his nine points in the first quarter.

Santa Ana Valley came no closer than eight in the second half as Canyon led by as many as 16.

Canyon also held a big advantage at the free-throw line, making 28 of 46. Santa Ana Valley made 12 of 19.

“We really struggled at the line,” Sabins said. “At times we ran up and down the court and fouled a lot. We played well at times but we weren’t consistent. But it’s hard to be consistent against a team like Valley.”

Abdi Barkordar and Eric Oliver scored 12 points apiece for Canyon, which has won three of its past four games.

George Alvarado scored 17 points and Rome Manson added 12 to lead Santa Ana Valley.

In the other games at Century High:

El Modena 50, Santa Ana 48--Greg Gottlieb made two free throws with five seconds left to lead the Vanguards (9-6, 1-0) past the Saints (5-9, 0-1).

Santa Ana had a chance to tie the game, but a tip-in by Oscar Wilson was after the final buzzer.

Jeff Leedom scored 16 points while Brad Powell and Gottlieb added 10 for El Modena.

Octavio Medina had 16 for Santa Ana.

Foothill 76, Villa Park 56--The Knights built a 17-point lead in the first quarter and held off a rally by the Spartans in the second half.

Foothill (9-6) used a balanced attack to build a 22-5 lead in the first quarter. Villa Park cut it to 38-24 at halftime.

The Spartans (1-11) continued to chip away at the lead in the third quarter and trailed, 55-45, at the start of the fourth quarter.

Then Foothill’s Mark Wilkinson took over.

He scored 11 of his game-high 21 points in the fourth quarter, including a one-handed slam dunk over two defenders with 1:10 remaining, as the Knights outscored the Spartans, 21-13.

Nick Konopisos scored 18 and Erik Gilbertson added 14 for Foothill. Chris Kirby had 14 and Sean Calahan 11 for Villa Park.