Heartbreak City: The Canyon Springs High School girls basketball team didn’t lead for the first 31 minutes and 32 seconds of Friday night’s CIF-Southern Section Division 1A championship game, but when it mattered most the Cougars had just enough points to hand Bishop Amat one of the toughest losses in program history.
With the game tied at 46-46, Cougars guard Ashleigh Sparks got the ball with 4.9 seconds left and drove nearly the length of the court and banked in a shot that danced around the rim and went in as time expired for a 48-46 win at Anaheim Arena.
“You coach long enough, you’re going to have some tough losses,” said Amat coach Richard Wiard, who was bidding for his sixth CIF-SS title.

Bishop Amat, Canyon Springs photo gallery

Canyon Springs beat Bishop Amat on a buzzer beater to capture the CIF-Southern Section Division 1A championship game at the Anaheim Arena on Friday, denying Amat its back-to-back championship bid and sixth title in history. After Bishop Amat’s Mauriana Clayton hit one of two free throws to tie the score 46-46 with 4.9 seconds left, Ashleigh Sparks took the inbound and went the length of the floor, banking it off the glass as time expired for the 48-46 victory. Amat led by as many as 12 points, but didn’t surrender the lead until the final 28 seconds. The Lancers received a game-high 20 points from Paulina Santana and 10 points and 16 rebounds from Clayton. Cheyenne Greenhouse led the Cougars with 24 points and eight rebounds