Verdugo Hills on the Rise in Sunset Six League, 57-50

CANOGA PARK —  Expect the unexpected.

Having played the best three teams in the Sunset Six League in the last eight days, it is clear that something different is going on at Verdugo Hills High:

The Dons are winning basketball games.

Verdugo Hills squandered a 15-point lead Wednesday but held on to claim a 57-50 victory over Canoga Park.

Verdugo Hills, 5-19 a year ago, is three points from being undefeated in league play.

“Nobody expects that from Verdugo Hills,” Coach Scott Kempbell said, smiling.

The Dons (8-9, 2-1 in league) opened league play with a 62-60 loss to Grant, which turned a few heads. Two days later, they handed North Hollywood a 51-44 setback.

“In the preseason, they found out they could compete,” Kempbell said. “Now they’re learning how it is on the other side of that and getting some wins.”

Verdugo Hills, which trailed by seven points after the first quarter, outscored the Hunters, 20-3, in the second quarter, getting eight points from Michael Porter.

Canoga Park committed five turnovers and made only one of nine shots in the second quarter.

“We couldn’t get any good looks at the basket,” Coach Ralph Turner of Canoga Park said.

Meanwhile, the Dons couldn’t miss, sinking nine of 11 shots in the second quarter and shooting 60% in the first half for a 30-17 lead.

After halftime, the Dons cooled considerably. Mike Elliott’s basket gave Verdugo Hills its biggest lead, 32-17, to open the third quarter, but the Dons made only three of 15 shots in the quarter.

“It seems like when we play smart, we do well,” Kempbell said. “In that third quarter, we didn’t play smart.”

Canoga Park (8-9, 1-2) pulled even, 36-36, on Cecil Brown’s layup with 1:13 left in the third.

Verdugo Hills regained the lead on a free throw by Elliott and extended its lead to four points on a follow shot by Kevin Baird, 41-37, early in the fourth quarter.

The Hunters, hurt by poor free-throw shooting, couldn’t get closer than four points. They missed five of six shots from the field in the final 1:17.

“We’re not playing well right now and it’s beginning to affect us mentally,” Turner said.

The Hunters made only nine of 25 (36%) free throws, including six of 13 in the fourth quarter.

“This isn’t the first game we lost because of [missed] free throws, I can tell you that,” Turner said.

“They outplayed us. They outhustled us. They wanted it more than we did.”

Elliott, who scored 57 points against Grant and North Hollywood last week, finished with 15 points. Victor Hines added 11.

Jammie Harris scored 16 points for Canoga Park, and Dante Witherspoon and Brown each had 13.