BOYS' BASKETBALL: HART COMES UP BIG IN VICTORY HART 65, CANYON 53.

Byline: Gerry Gittelson Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - Bigger doesn't always mean better in boys' high school basketball.

Canyon had a significant height advantage against Foothill League rival Hart of Newhall on Friday, but Hart stretched out visiting Canyon's sagging zone defense by hitting seven 3-pointers during a 65-53 victory.

Navid Khajavi, starting for only the fifth time this season, scored 20 points, including 10 in the final four minutes, to spark Hart (18-4, 5-1). The 5-foot-11 senior made 6 of 9 shots, including two 3-pointers, and had six steals and two assists.

``My coach told me to just get the ball and go. I had the green light tonight, and I guess some of my shots were pretty clutch,'' Khajavi said. ``But the important thing was we played as a team and prepared for this game all week, harping on all the little things in practice. I think we had played as team in the beginning of the season but kind of had gotten away from that.''

Canyon center Kyle Waite (6-7) and forwards Nate Longshore (6-5) and Josh Shirley (6-4) were the biggest players on the court. Their height advantage was even more pronounced when Hart's tallest player, 6-5 Adam Rich, went down with an early ankle injury.

But Waite was in foul trouble throughout and never found his rhythm, finishing with six points. And the normally dependable Longshore turned the ball over the first three times he touched it and committed four in the game. He had four points.

Shirley, the league's leading scorer, had 28 points but barely had any help. He couldn't explain why his team never considered switching to a man-to-man defense to offset Hart's outside shooting.

``Whether we were in a zone or man, I think Hart still would have hit those 3s,'' Shirley said. ``We played hard, but Hart's just a really good team, and we didn't take over the game when we needed to.''

A victory would have pulled Canyon (13-9, 3-3) into a tie for first place. But Hart, reeling from an upset loss to Saugus last week, was in no mood for another subpar performance.

``We wanted to come out and play tough the whole game,'' Hart coach Tom Kelly said. ``We weren't ourselves because we had two guys hurt (Andrew Morris injured his hand), and Navid stepped up big time.''

Canyon, down by 16 early in the fourth quarter, pulled to within 51-45 with just more than four minutes remaining. But Khajavi hit a 3-pointer, followed by a steal and fastbreak layup a few minutes later, and the lead was back to 11 and remained in the double digits the rest of the way.

``I really liked the way we played for all 32 minutes,'' Kelly said. ``We played harder and tougher than we did against Saugus last week. Tonight we wanted it more.''

Mike Gentry and Paul Hartmire each scored 10 points for Hart, and Mitch Paden added nine on three 3-pointers. Jess Guidroz (12 points) was the only Canyon player besides Shirley to score more than six points.

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Photo:

Mike Gentry (4), who scored 10 points for Hart, tries to get past Canyon's Josh Shirley on Friday during the Indians' victory. Shirley had 28 points for the Cowboys.

David Sprague/Staff Photographer