Esperanza boys basketball team wins a thriller at the buzzer; Canyon and Villa Park also capture victories

Trevor Geiger, shown in a game earlier this season, led Esperanza with 13 points Saturday night against El Dorado.

Esperanza’s boys basketball team won a thriller Saturday night, defeating El Dorado 41-40 in a Century Conference crossover game.

Sophomore Cory Johnson tipped in an offensive rebound at the buzzer to lift the Aztecs (12-9) to the victory. It was the first time Esperanza led and it was the only field goal in the game for Johnson.

Trevor Geiger led Esperanza with 13 points, Will Steinbeck had 11 points and Tane Sedgewick had six.

“We basically shot ourselves in the foot to start the game with seven turnovers in the first quarter alone,” said Esperanza Coach Mark Hill.

“Fortunately we kept the game close enough as it was never more than a 9- point deficit and then we guarded better and certainly took care of the ball better which allowed us the opportunity to get it down to a one-point game with 11 seconds left and pull this game out.”

Also on Saturday night:

Canyon 51, Yorba Linda 48: The Comanches won the Century Conference crossover game at Yorba Linda. Canyon (12-7) was led by AJ Perry with 17 points and Sami Abdelhad with 14 points.

Yorba Linda (12-8) was led by Chance Sandoval with 14 points, Cory Knutson with 13 points and Alec Mena with 10 points.

Villa Park 78, Foothill 52: Riley Schroeder scored 22 points, Julien Franklin had 18 points and Cal Whitney 14 points to lead the Spartans (17-1) in a Crestview League game at Foothill.