canyon v. katella

SoCal High School & Prep Report

Canyon v. Katella: Two O.C. Powers Go At It--(January 11, 1998)

Here's another one we missed while we were "out". Seems that Canyon High (Century League), the No. 4 ranked team in Orange County (according to the Orange County Register) last Tuesday night played undefeated Katella High (Empire League), which had been ranked No. 3 in the County by the Register.

Well, as you know, one of these teams lost, and it seems that Katella is no longer undefeated. This time it was Canyon and Drew Gaulden (6'-9" Sr. PF/C) who will be playing for New Mexico next season who were successful, winning 58-49. But just as important to Canyon as the play they got from Gaulden, who pulled down 21 points and 11 boards, was the play from Ali Goodman (6'-7" Sr. PF) who scored 17 points and pulled down 17 rebounds.

With the loss, Katella dropped to 15-1, while Canyon, which earlier this season won its own Canyon Holiday Classic Tournament, improved to 13-2.

Canyon opened it's league play this last Friday night against Century League Champion Villa Park, and we'll have the results of that one up soon. But this game on Tuesday was a great one, and Katella had a seven point lead after the first quarter, but just couldn't seem to hang on has their usually high scoring Robert Abercrombie couldn't get going. Abercrombie, who averages 18 points per game, was held to 13 points and missed his first eight shots before hittng a pair of threes late in the third quarter.

While this was a non-league contest, it was important for both teams. "This was a good fight for us," said Rob Alexander, Canyon's head coach. "Katell's tough and one of the bigger teams in the county. We needed to see if we could say focused after winning our own tournament, and this will be a big test for us before opening league play Friday," said Alexander.

Others scoring for Canyon besides Goodman and Gaulden included Hogan with 12, Hammad with 4, Evans with 2, and Reed with 2. Jordan scored 14 for Katella, and Tishammer added 11, while Carey had 3, Luther had 6 and Gariker had 2. Canyon outscored Katella 14-5 in the second quarter, and then poured it on again in the third, outscoring them 21-11. Hogan had 3 three-pointers for Katella, while Hammad had 1 three.