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| Steele Canyon 63 Helix 53 |
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LA MESA – There has been much debate of late as to who is the best basketball player in the Grossmont Conference.
Steele Canyon's Richie Williams cast himself firmly as the front-runner for the honor last night at Helix.
The Cougars' senior guard hit eight of his first 11 shots, forging a 32-12 lead for Steele Canyon less than a minute into the second period. Twenty of those points belonged to Williams and the game appeared to be all but over.
Helix, however, scrambled back to within four with 1:19 remaining before the Cougars pulled away for a 63-53 victory.
"We felt like Helix hasn't given us the respect that we deserve, so we had to come out and get it," said Williams, who finished with 27 points, seven assists, three steals and three rebounds. "We had to show them there is no way they can beat us."
In the case of the top-ranked Cougars (25-1, 9-1), that's not cockiness. It's confidence. Steele Canyon swept the two-game series from No. 5 Helix (21-5, 8-2) to claim its second straight Grossmont South League championship.
Earlier in the week, Helix coach John Singer said he favored Highlanders senior guard Lance Hurdle for the league's player of the year.
"I took that kind of personal," Williams said. "Lance is a good player, but I've outplayed him the last two games. I've been outplaying him for the last four years."
Williams, who has committed to SDSU, receives the nod in his latest match against Hurdle (11 points, four assists, two steals).
"Richie Williams proves himself against Lance Hurdle time and time again," said Steele Canyon senior postman George Cunningham. "But if you take Lance Hurdle away from Helix, there's nobody. If you take Richie away from Steele Canyon, we still have some good players."
Most of those "good players" were in early foul trouble. In fact, four of the Steele Canyon starters had three or more fouls by the end of the first half.
Despite missing more than a quarter because of foul problems, Cunningham produced 13 points, seven rebounds and blocked three shots. He canned six of eight shots from the field.
Hurdle, who has committed to UC Santa Barbara, scored six of the Highlanders' nine first-quarter points. It was an otherwise long night for Hurdle, who drew most of Steele Canyon's defensive attention. He was 1-for-13 from the field but 9-for-11 from the free throw line.
Aaron Tinsley tallied 11 of his 15 points in the second quarter as Helix shaved the Cougars' advantage to 41-34 by the break.
A Clinton Shelton put-back got Helix as close as 50-46, but the Cougars refused to cave in.
"They just have too many weapons," Singer said.
