By Brittain Kelly
Friday night, Copper Mountain College hosted the fifth-ranked team in the state, Santiago Canyon College. It was one of the most anticipated match-ups in all of Southern California. CMC pulled within three points, but was plagued with late free throw troubles and fell, 81-78.
Copper Mountain College came into the contest ranked 20th in the state and off a solid showing last weekend in the SBVC tournament.
The first half was all Santiago Canyon. It seemed as if the Fighting Cacti had already gone on Thanksgiving break through their lackadaisical play. They dug themselves an 18-point hole in the first half. The visiting Hawks scored three-pointer after three-pointer, capitalizing off costly Cacti turnovers. Santiago Canyon held the comfortable 45-27 lead over the home team at the half.
The hometown Fightin’ Cacti fans fot their money’s worth in the second half. The Fighting Cacti came spiking back behind the impressive effort from sophomore forward Hyking Brisbon. Freshman point guard Tyler Hudson accompanied Brisbon in his efforts with some very tough plays made down the stretch. CMC pulled within three, but due to the team’s late free throw troubles, the Cacti lost, 81-78.
Hyking Brisbon led Copper Mountain with a career-high 31 points and 16 rebounds. Freshman point guard Tyler Hudson had a solid game with 19 points and four assists. Zack Kroker rounded off highlight performers for CMC, chipping in 13 points and seven rebounds.
The Fighting Cacti go into Thanksgiving an even 3-3 on the year, but have had many bright spots in their early showings and leave a lot of promise for the rest of their season.
After break the Cacti are back at home against Golden West College, December 2, at 5 p.m.
