It was a tale of two halves Friday night, as the Canby Cougars’ boys basketball team’s 3-0 start to Three Rivers League play came to an end against the No. 4 West Linn Lions.
It was the 10th annual Pack the Gym Night at Canby High, and the Canby Crazies were eagerly filling their role as sixth man. The air was electric, and behind the crowd’s energy — and Canby’s red-hot 3-point shooting and inspired defense — the Cougars burst out to a 28-18 lead in the first two quarters.
They seemed to be in total control. But the super-talented squad from West Linn is too good a team to have two bad halves in a row. Canby went ice-cold in the third, scoring only five points, and by the fourth quarter, the Lions had a lead they would never relinquish. Final score: 61-41.
Arredondo led Canby with a game-high 18 points, while sophomore guard Alexander Evans and junior guard Riley Knutson added 8 apiece.
While the momentum in the boys’ game swung wildly from one side to the other, the girls’ home stand against West Linn was a close match that stayed close until the final buzzer. The Cougs pulled within one with a clutch corner 3 from junior guard Zoey Thompson in the final two minutes, but missed free throws and a couple defensive lapses doomed them in the end.
They also fell, 42-46. For photos from Pack the Gym night, check out our Facebook page.
League play continues this week for the Cougar basketball teams, as they get their first crack at Tualatin Tuesday and then host Lake Oswego on Friday. The Lady Timberwolves will be a tough matchup; they’re 10-4 on the season but have yet to put it together in league play, going 1-3. The Lakers are 3-11.
Same matchups for the boys, though both games will be on the road. Both Tualatin and Lake O are currently 7-8 on the season.
