Hot-shooting duo lead Foothill to 57-43 win over Silverado

Ed Hauth

Thursday, Jan. 13, 2011 | 10:26 p.m.

Foothill High’s Brannon Cresanto and Greg Cox each hit four 3-point field goals for the Falcons as they improved to 13-6 on the season with a 57-43 victory over Silverado Thursday.

“Both of them can shoot the ball,” said Foothill coach Kevin Soares of Cox and Cresanto. “They work diligently on their jump shots and all that time they put in pays off. It opens up the inside for our big guys when they are knocking down shots.”

Cox led all scorers with 24 points and Cresanto added 16 as the two guards accounted for 40 of the Falcons’ 57 points.

Foothill led the entire game as the Falcons started off quick with a 16-4 scoring run to open the game led by the sharpshooting of Cresanto and Cox.

“Just coming out aggressive was key,” Cox said. “Attack and try to get them into foul trouble and have them on their heels before they attack us.”

Cresanto and Cox each had a pair of 3-point baskets in the opening period to give the Falcons a 16-8 lead after the first quarter.

The Skyhawks pulled within a point early in the third quarter at 34-33 on a David Ware driving layup.

But Cox answered with his fourth 3-pointer of the game on the ensuing possession for the Falcons as the Skyhawks were unable to claw any closer.

Cresanto, a 6-foot sophomore guard, showed good vision on the court in addition to his prowess from behind the arc.

Cresanto connected with senior forward Augy French for a rim-rattling ally-oop slam-dunk to give Foothill a 41-35 lead with 5:40 left in the third quarter. The play sent the Falcons’ home crowd roaring to their feet.

French scored six points in the opening four minutes of the third quarter after being held scoreless in the opening half because of foul trouble. He finished with eight.

After allowing 23 points in the second quarter, the Falcons defense showed aggressiveness and tenacity in the second half as Foothill held Silverado to just 12 points in the final two quarters of play.

“Defense was the biggest key to tonight’s victory,” Soares said. “We held them to 43 points. When you hold teams to 43 points, you are going to win a lot of games, regardless if you are struggling on offense or not.”

Cox, who helped build Foothill’s lead with three 3-point field goals in the first half, finished the Skyhawks off, converting six of six free throws in the final 90 seconds.

“Down the stretch, making free throws is a must,” Cox said. “We work on it every day. In practice, like every other drill we are doing free throws, so we focus on that a lot.”

After falling to Coronado 58-37 last Friday, the Falcons answered back with two key division wins in the Sunrise Southeast this week. Prior to Thursday’s victory over the Skyhawks, Foothill defeated Liberty 61-43 on the road on Tuesday.

The loss dropped coach Martin Ferriter’s Silverado squad to 6-8 on the season. The Skyhawks have dropped two consecutive games after starting the year 2-0 with wins over Del Sol and SECTA.

Both teams are off until next Friday when Foothill travels to Basic and Silverado hosts Liberty.