Langley, Canyons Find Right Gear in 85-76 Win

Like a car with too much horsepower, College of the Canyons’ David Langley was running out of control during the first 10 minutes against visiting Cypress on Wednesday night.

Langley, the Western State Conference South Division basketball player of the year, committed six turnovers in the first half of the Southern California regional second-round game of the state tournament, including three of the first four times he touched the ball.

He adjusted his idle in the second half, however, to help lead Canyons to an 85-76 victory.

The win was the 10th in the row for the Cougars (26-6), who will play host to Compton in the third round Saturday night.

The winner of that contest will advance to the final eight of the state tournament, which begins March 12 at San Jose State.

“I just came out with a little too much energy,” Langley said. “I might have been trying a little too hard to make things happen.”

Langley scored a game-high 27 points on 12-of-16 shooting, including a perfect seven for seven in the second half.

Six of those baskets came on layups as the 6-foot-2 sophomore consistently blew past Cypress defenders.

“David is so quick to begin with that it doesn’t take much to get him off balance,” Canyons Coach Lee Smelser said. “I think he was just too pumped up in the first half and that caused him to make some mistakes he usually doesn’t make.”

Canyons hit 33 of 48 shots from the field (68.8%), including 17 of 21 in the second half.

Reggie Bell and Marquis Wilborn each registered 18 points for Canyons.

Cypress had a 42-36 advantage early in the second half before Canyons went on a 12-0 run to take a 48-42 lead with 16:17 left.

“We just stepped up our defense,” Smelser said. “In the first part of the first half, we were just a half-step slow.”

Canyons extended its lead to 69-58 with 6:49 left, but Cypress (21-11) twice narrowed the deficit to two points before Canyons pulled away in the final two minutes.

Point guard Sam Sabbara and forward Flip Banks each scored 17 points for Cypress.

VALLEY AND ANTELOPE VALLEY ELIMINATED: C13