Century Beats Artists in Overtime

Century’s bid to crack the county’s top-10 boys’ basketball rankings didn’t lose any steam as the Centurions defeated Laguna Beach in double overtime, 54-47, Saturday in the second round of the Century Holiday Classic at Century High.

With 1 minute 11 seconds remaining in the second overtime and the score tied, 46-46, Centurions forward Terrail Zoller drove the baseline and was fouled by Nick Reynolds while scoring on a layup. Zoller, who scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds, hit the subsequent free throw to give the Centurions (9-3) a 49-46 lead.

Guard Chris Sirianni, who had 17 points and eight rebounds for the Artists (10-4), took the inbound pass on the next possession and drove the length of the court. His eight-foot shot fell short and Centurion center Mike Zepeda collected the ball. Zepeda finished with 13 points, 16 rebounds and seven blocked shots.

Paul Ferretti fouled Sirianni with 30 seconds remaining in the game. Sirianni made one free throw but the Artists got no closer.

Zoller made one free throw with three seconds remaining.

“We needed to win a game like this one,” Century Coach Greg Coombs said. “To play the defense we played in overtime against them was tremendous. Mike [Zepeda] played well the entire game and came up with a couple of big rebounds in the overtime periods for us.”