FREEWAY LEAGUE BOYS’ BASKETBALL : Troy Teams Up to Stop Sonora

There wasn’t one key to Troy’s 54-43 Freeway League boys’ basketball victory over Sonora Wednesday at Troy High.

The Warriors (15-8, 6-1 in league) upset Sonora, ranked ninth in the county, with solid defense, a smart game plan, and Greg Abbott’s game-high 18 points.

To the fourth-quarter chants of “overrated,” Troy took control of the league race by defeating the Raiders (18-5, 5-2) for the second time this season. Troy defeated Sonora, 59-55, in overtime Jan. 12 at Sonora.

“We don’t have any superstars, but we have a group of good kids who come out and play super hard,” Troy Coach T.J. Hardeman said.

There were plenty of heroes for Troy, which now has the inside track on its first league title since 1986.

Junior guard Jeff Sand scored 16 points and made three key three-pointers. Sand had 19 points and four three-pointers in the teams’ first meeting.

After Sonora erased a 13-point deficit midway through the third quarter to tie it at 33, Sand made a three-pointer to give Troy the lead for good. Sand added a three-pointer just before the third-quarter buzzer to increase the lead to 39-34.

Center Josh Richardson scored 12 points for Troy, but more importantly, played tough defense to help shut down Sonora’s 7-foot center Craig Clark. Clark had six points, on three-of-10 shooting, and 11 rebounds.

Forward Rick Parmenter scored only two points but made some key defensive plays in the fourth quarter. Parmenter had a blocked shot and two steals--all leading to Troy baskets--to help keep the Warriors ahead comfortably in the final minutes.

Guard Robbie Peterson had six points and three assists, but made two of three three-pointers. Troy made eight of 13 from three-point range and shot 46% (19 of 41) from the field.

All of these performances helped offset Troy’s poor free-throw shooting. The Warriors made four of 13 from the foul line in the fourth quarter, but Sonora also struggled.

Sonora point guard Sergio Hernandez made three of 12 shots, finishing with seven points, and the Raiders made only 38% (19 of 50) from the field.

“We had a horrendous shooting night,” Sonora Coach Mike Murphy said. “In the first quarter our shot selection wasn’t good and even when we got good shots, we couldn’t make them.”

Sonora made its one run to start the third quarter with Chad Fister scoring eight of his team-high 13 points in a three-minute span to draw Sonora to within, 30-29, with 4:25 remaining in the quarter.

Sonora took the lead, 31-30, on Josh Lien’s jumper with 3:56 left in the third quarter, but Troy outscored the Raiders, 9-3, to close the quarter.

“We showed our immaturity there and turned the ball over in a couple of key situations,” Murphy said. “But give Troy credit. They’re a good team and they did a great job tonight. They came into our place and beat us with a good game plan and they won again tonight. They’ve got our number.”

Nathan Mirth scored 10 points for Sonora.

In other league games:

La Habra 58, Fullerton 49--Guard Corey Holbert had 21 points and Andrija Kristich added 20 points and 10 rebounds for host La Habra (15-8, 4-3). Seth La Tour scored 16 points for Fullerton (12-11, 3-4).

Sunny Hills 48, Buena Park 37--Ben Nicolas scored 11 points and Clint Collins had 10 for the Lancers (9-13, 3-4), who took a 17-4 lead after one quarter. Courtney Smith scored 17 points for Buena Park (3-19, 0-7).