Peery, Baltau Gave Canyon Balance to Keep Team on Beam

Canyon’s offensive output of 4,960 yards was the most among Valley-area football teams this season, and the Cowboys were also the area’s most balanced team.

The Cowboys, who were defeated by Antelope Valley, 28-22, in the Southern Section Division II championship game Saturday night, rolled up 2,767 yards rushing and 2,193 yards passing. Canyon is the only area team to break the 2,000-yard barrier in both rushing and passing.

Leading the Cowboys for the second consecutive year was Chris Peery, a junior tailback who rushed for 1,418 yards and 22 touchdowns in 259 carries (5.4 yards a carry average). Senior quarterback Rod Baltau completed 142 of 247 passes (57.5%) for 2,099 yards and 20 touchdowns.

Basketball: Hoover guard John Hillman is picking up where brother Joe left off. Joe, who plays at Indiana, averaged 41.3 points as a high school senior. John, a junior, is averaging 30.8 and scored 43 against St. Francis. Hillman accounts for nearly half the Tornadoes’ offense (66 points), but opponents are averaging 67.

Crescenta Valley center John Gilmore scored 32 points and had 14 rebounds in a 79-66 overtime win over Burroughs on Saturday in the final of the Crescenta Valley tournament. Gilmore, who was selected the tournament MVP, is second on the team in scoring. He averages 14.1 points and guard Raffie Eskandarian averages 18.3.

Cleveland forward Lucious Harris scored 19 points in an 86-48 win over Fairfax, 23 in a 97-64 win over Rancho Cordova of Sacramento, 14 in a 90-82 defeat of Riordan of San Francisco, and 20 in a 63-62 loss to St. Joseph of Alameda.

Montclair Prep’s Craig Handschu is averaging 22.3 points in 6 games despite sitting out the fourth quarter of 4 lopsided wins.

Brett Wilson has accounted for more than 33% of Hart’s offense, averaging 25.8 points. Hart averages 74.

Wayne Cook is averaging 25.5 points and nearly 9 rebounds a game for Newbury Park (4-0).