By Corey Kwok
(La Canada) – La Cañada came out flaming hot from the get-go and led by as much as 23 points at one time while hitting 12 of 17 3-pointers in the first half, before surviving a seething rally by Damien in the second half to win 59-58 in the championship of its own tournament Saturday – the La Cañada Holiday Classic.
Damien made their tuneups and LC missed all 11 attempts from beyond the arc in the second half.
Bryce Peters drained a three with 30 seconds to play, pulling Damien within 1 (at what would become the final score) and had the ball again and last shot at the buzzer after a couple point-blank misses by others, but it struck the front of the rim and glanced away as time expired and LC came away the victors.
Peters (4 assists, 3 rebounds) led all scorers with 22 points for Damien, who also got 13 out of Justin Hemsley (13 rebounds, 2 assists), 12 from Isaiah White (3 assists, 3 rebounds), and six by Elijah McCullough (5 rebounds, 4 assists). Liam Ryan (4 points, 6 rebounds) and Ezekiel Alley (1 point, 2 rebounds) rounded out the scoring slate for Damien.
Sean Estes and Justin Kouyoumdjian both nailed four 3-pointers in the first half, and finished in double-digit scoring for the La Cañada Spartans, along with Koko Kurdoghlian.
Estes scored 16, while Kouyoumdjian added 13 with five rebounds and four assists, and Kurdoghlian 11 with six assists, four steals, and four rebounds.
Grant Arthur (7 points, 2 assists) had a team-high seven rebounds, and Ben Choi chipped in with five points, four assists, and three rebounds, for LC.
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