Boys’ basketball: West Ranch ends Hart’s winning streak at 16 games

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With 6-foot-7 Ako Kaluna contributing 24 points and 17 rebounds and senior guard Kevin Harris adding 18 points, West Ranch knocked off unbeaten Newhall Hart, 70-63, in a Foothill League opener at Hart. The Indians had won their first 16 games.

But West Ranch (11-4) came in battled tested from an important month of December, in which the Wildcats took on the likes of Crespi, Chaminade, Alemany, Loyola, Sacramento and Rancho Verde. They showed their experience by opening a 9-0 lead.

Hart settled down but never could overcome West Ranch’s inside-outside game, along with the contributions of the Wildcats’ role players, such as Cody Sanders, who made two three-pointers, and Kyle Williams, who had nine points.

Lewis Stallworth led Hart with 18 points, 10 coming in the fourth quarter when the game had already been decided. Myles Franklin had 15 points.

Canyon defeated Golden Valley, 79-72. Ben Taufahema scored 20 points, making five three-pointers. Marc Cabrera added 15 points.

-- Eric Sondheimer