Skyline renews rivalry with win

First-year Skyline coach Justin Piergrossi said he did not stress this game as more important than any other.

"Every game is important to us," Piergrossi said. "We didn't put any special emphasis on this game."

Lamont Quattlebaum, Cañada's first-year coach, had bit of a different take on the matchup.

"I understand the Cañada-Skyline rivalry. I played in it," Quattlebaum said. "And I don't think [the players] recognize the importance of the game."

That was evident in the Colts' start. Cañada (0-5 Coast Conference, 1-18 overall) started the game lacking any intensity and the Colts quickly found themselves down 10-0 with 16:07 left in the first half. That turned out to be the difference in the game. Skyline (3-2, 8-14) led by as many as 20 points in the second half but the Colts closed with a 22-9 run over the final 8:16 of the game.

"I didn't like the way we finished," Piergrossi said. "It was horrible. We got complacent."

Quattlebaum wished his team could start as strong as they finish. There have been about a dozen games where the Colts found themselves down 18 and would cut the deficit to single digits only to run out of energy and time, he said.

"We have to find a way … to be in a game the first seven or eight minutes and then have that fire down the stretch," Quattlebaum said.

Skyline's inside game turned out to be just too much for the under-sized Colts to handle. Trojans' center Filip Popvic scored a game-high 20 points while pulling down close to 10 rebounds.

"(Popvic has) been playing really well for us," Piergrossi said.

Forward Chris Strong added 10 and wing player Marcus Hagwood chipped in with 14.

Skyline also controlled the boards with its height advantage. The Trojans dominated the glass in the first half, out-rebounding the Colts 16-8. Things were more even in the second half, although the Trojans managed two more than the Colts.

"We haven't had many teams where we had a height advantage," PIergrossi said. "We wanted to pound the ball inside."

While Skyline established its inside game early, Cañada did not go to its low-post game until the second half. Trailing 35-17, the Colts went inside to center Kirk Williams three straight possessions to start the second half and he responded with seven points.

Unfortunately for the Colts, Williams didn't score again until there was 11:36 left to play.

"[Skyline] kinda adjusted and Kirk got a little tired," Quattlebaum said. "We really should establish post position early in the game."

Cañada trailed 63-43 with 5:19 left to play before it finally found some tenacity, turned up the defensive pressure and got after the Trojans. Gary Gates hit two free throws and baseline jumper to close to within 63-47. After a Skyline basket, Cañada point guard Bill Vlahiotis took over. He converted a layup and after a Hyram Bagatsing bucket, Vlahiotis scored the Colts' final seven points - five coming on free throws - as they cut the Trojans' lead to 66-58 with 1:37 left.

The Colts could have made Skyline sweat a little more, coming up with two steals in the final minute. But they could not convert the layups on the other end.

"You could sure tell there were 25 freshmen running around out there," Quattlebaum said of both team's rosters, comprised solely of first-year players. "Even down the stretch [Skyline] started to lose it."