Cypress boys basketball keeps playoff hopes alive with win over Canyon

CYPRESS – They still have a chance.

The Cypress boys basketball team won in a must-win situation Friday, beating Canyon, 82-62, in a Crestview League game at Cypress High.

The result created a tie for third place in the league. Canyon and Cypress both are 3-4 in the five-team league.

The top three teams in the Crestview League’s final standings automatically qualify for the CIF Southern Section playoffs that begin Feb. 11. The league’s No. 4 team can still get into the playoffs as an at-large team, but that’s probably a longshot.

Cypress and Canyon each have one league game remaining, on Tuesday. Cypress plays at last-place Foothill and Canyon plays at second-place La Habra.

If Cypress and Canyon both win Tuesday, or if they both lose, they would meet in a third-place tiebreaker game on Wednesday. Canyon and Cypress had to play a third-place tiebreaker game last season – Canyon won, 64-56, at Sunny Hills High.

Cypress senior guard Ryan Gov, who committed to Azusa Pacific, scored 23 points with five rebounds. Gov made two steals that led to fastbreak points in a 15-second span in the third quarter to further push the momentum in the Centurions’ favor.

Senior guard Ethan Mai scored 18 points including three 3-point baskets for Cypress. Centurions senior forward Gavin Kroll scored 18 points.

Canyon was led by senior guard Rami Awad and junior forward Nicholas Shorts, who both scored 14 points. Senior guard Bryson Taiuli-Allen added 13 points for Canyon. Awad and Shorts made three 3-pointers each.

Cypress lost to Canyon, 66-62, at Canyon in the first round of league play.

“We really improved our defensive rebounding over the last time,” Cypress coach Derek Mitchell said. “We came out and played hard and played smart.”

Awad scored seven points in the first quarter to spark Canyon to an 18-15 lead going into the second quarter. Kroll scored seven points and Emmanuel Igbekoyi made two 3s in the second quarter as Cypress outscored Canyon 20-12 in the quarter to carry a 35-30 lead into halftime.

Gov opened the second half with a breakaway layup. He made a steal and sped downcourt for another layup. Seconds later Gov made another steal, and got the ball to Kroll for two more fastbreak points to make it 41-30.

The Centurions had a 14-point lead at the end of the quarter. Their lead never got below double digits in the fourth quarter.

Canyon was not at full strength. A flu virus has circulated among the players, weakening some and keeping 6-7 senior forward Pierce Haugen, averaging eight points and five rebounds a game, from making it to the game.

Cypress’ three league wins are over Canyon, Foothill and La Habra. Canyon’s three league wins are over Cypress and two wins over Foothill.

Canyon is No. 8 in this week’s Orange County Top 25 and Cypress is No. 11.