Second Half Dashes Charger Upset Hopes
Carlberg scored a career high 23 points Friday night. |
January 4th, 2008
box score
Cypress, Calif. – Cypress is already undersized and was dealt the further blow of being without their two sophomore post players while trying to upset a fourth ranked Canyons team. The Chargers surprised many by keeping up and even taking the lead in the first half, but their height became an issue in the second losing their lead and slipping further behind to lose 78-67. Freshman guard Candyce Carlberg led Cypress with a game high 23 points along with three assists and nine rebounds.
The Chargers started slow falling behind by as much as ten points 15-5 early. Cypress woke up and started to chip away with a 14-5 run to tie the game at 19 and then take the lead 21-19 after two made free throws by Carlberg. The teams then went back and forth towards the end of the first half with Cypress on top 36-34 at the buzzer. The Cougars reacted to start the second half outscoring Cypress 14-3 to take the nine point lead just five minutes into the second half. Canyons took advantage of their height and rebounding to stretch their lead to as much as twenty. Cypress pushed back and was able to cut the lead back down to 11 to end the game.
Turnovers were costly as Cypress was outscored 20-9 in points off of turnovers. Canyons took advantage of their size advantage outscoring the Chargers 64-12 in the paint and blocking nine shots. Freshman guard Sequana Norris had another solid night scoring 15 points while grabbing four steals. Freshman guard Michelle Salemi dished out five assists and scored eight points.
Cypress falls to 4-11 and has a few days to prepare for the start of the Orange Empire Conference. The Chargers will open with fourteenth ranked Santa Ana. The Dons are 10-5 and are coming off of a 76-61 win over Glendale. The two will face off next Wednesday night at 7:30 pm.