Pacific Hills Loses to La Cañada's Defense

After two minutes of the La Cañada-Pacific Hills second round clash in the CIF-Southern Section Division 3AA boys basketball playoffs on Friday night, it looked like it was going to be a shootout. The teams made their first seven combined shots, but then the defenses took over, and the Spartans did just enough to win a low scoring, defensive game by a score of 48-38.

The No. 3 Spartans now face No. 6 Bishop Montgomery in the quarterfinals on Tuesday night.

“When it started it looked like we were going to be in the 100s. Both teams came out strong and we were all excited, but once everyone calmed down we played some fantastic defense,” said La Cañada coach Tom Hofman.

Just three minutes in, the score was already 12-11, but both teams quickly cooled down. By the end of the first, La Cañada held a slim 15-13 lead. The Spartans came out hot in the second quarter, going on a 9-3 run to extend their lead to 24-16.

The Spartans usually rely on guard Michael McGlashan to do their scoring, but he scored only three points on four shots in the first half. So with McGlashan struggling, guard Dario CiVon stepped to the plate.

CiVon scored nine of his team high 13 points in the first half, and was a big reason for La Cañada’s success. But Pacific Hills kept it close and trailed by just 27-24 at halftime.

“Dario played a really fine game. I thought he played the best defense he has all year. Mike played a good game too; their zone was keyed onto him. I thought it was a great team effort tonight,” Hofman said.

With the score at 32-28 in the third quarter, McGlashan showed why he’s such an important player, hitting a 3 to give his team a seven-point lead.

La Cañada (25-3) kept up its superb defense in the fourth quarter and only allowed three points through the first four minutes of the period on their way to their biggest lead of the game at 46-33.

Hofman raved about the defense after the game.

“I loved our defensive intensity tonight,” he said. “From Day 1, I told the kids offense comes and goes, but defense is the key. This might have been our best defensive effort all year.”

Pacific Hills applied a late press and was able to cut its deficit to 46-38, but it was too little too late.

Pacific Hills coach Ivan Barahona said after the game that his team simply wore down.

“It’s tough to run with these guys the whole game, when they are 10 deep and we are only six or seven. We got some open looks, but I think our kids were just fatigued towards the end. It would have been great to pull off this upset.”