This Time Cypress Steps Up, Wins
Cypress Coach Tom Gorrell isn’t quite over last week’s second-half collapse to Katella in the Centurions’ Empire League opener, but Wednesday’s 49-35 victory at El Dorado helped to distance the memory.
“The thing I’m most happy about is that I thought our guys really stepped up to the physicality of this game,” Gorrell said. “Last game against Katella we really go it taken to us in the second half, but we didn’t back down tonight.”
Cypress (10-7, 1-1) led by one at the half and three to start the fourth quarter. That’s when the Centurions put it in overdrive, outscoring El Dorado, 16-5, over the final eight minutes.
Josh Crawford gave Cypress its biggest lead, 35-30, when he put back an offensive rebound. After the Golden Hawks (14-4, 1-1) closed to four on Ryan Tenpas’ layup, the Centurions scored the next 10 points, seven coming from Trent Weaver, to take a 47-33 lead.
“The score doesn’t indicate how close it really was,” Gorrell said. “It was a real tight game.”
The Centurions’ second-half defense against El Dorado’s Mike Gardner and Ryan Ayer was a key to the victory, Gorrell said. Gardner and Ayer, who combined for 19 of the Golden Hawks’ 22 first-half points, were held to only four second-half points, all coming on free throws.
El Dorado, which had a height advantage, took it biggest lead, 11-6, on Ayer’s three-pointer late in the first quarter. Wes Bunn, who had a game-high 18 points for Cypress, scored the last five points of the first half, including the final three on a driving finger roll and a foul, to give his team a one-point lead.
“This is a key game after losing the opener to Katella at home,” Gorrell said. “We were up by 11 at halftime and threw that game away. To be 0-2 at this point would be a tough hole to dig out of, so this win puts us back in the hunt now.”
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