Canyon basketball’s 3OT victory over St. Bonaventure in CIF-SS final is pure madness

AZUSA — Saturday marks the start of March, but the madness began Friday night in the CIF Southern Section Division 2A boys basketball championship game between Canyon and St. Bonaventure.

Four quarters wasn’t enough time to determine a winner. Neither was two overtimes.

It took a Noah Madrigal 3-pointer at the buzzer in triple overtime that found its way in off the backboard to clinch a 89-86 win for Canyon.

Noah Madrigal #24 of Canyon reacts after hitting the game winning three pointer in triple overtime to defeat St. Bonaventure 89-86 and win the CIF-SS Boys basketball Division 2A championship basketball game at the Felix Event Center on the west campus of Azusa Pacific University in Azusa on Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Orange County Register/ SCNG)

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“You know, a lot of emotions were going through my mind,” Madrigal said about his reaction to the winning shot. “It’s mostly excitement, which is like seeing my team coming up and just celebrating with us.”

There was plenty of drama leading up the game-winner that in itself would have been enough emotional weight for any single game.

Canyon’s Eric Kubel received a pass with four seconds remaining in regulation and made a 3-pointer that gave his team a 65-62 lead. The Cowboys started to celebrate what they thought was the game-winning shot and even the table holding the CIF plaque started to make its way onto the court.

But St. Bonaventure still had 1.5 seconds left to tie the game. Charlie Adams made his way past two Canyon defenders on the far side of the court, caught the inbounds pass near midcourt and made a fall-away 3-pointer to send the arena into a frenzy.

“What a shot by Charlie to end the game. You know, they’re running the plaque on the court, and I’m going crazy, and there’s still 1.5 left,” Canyon head coach Ali Monfared said. “The chances of it going in are probably one percent, and Charlie makes it 10 percent because he’s that good.”

“It’s a shame that someone had to lose the game tonight because I thought both teams won. Truly, I thought St. Bonaventure easily could have been the CIF champion, and such credit to coach (Wolfgang) Wood. Their team is phenomenal.”

Canyon maintained the lead for most of the game – St. Bonaventure only had the lead for a little less than three minutes the entire night.

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One of those moments came late in the first overtime, when Mathew Wilson made a corner 3-pointer and was fouled. He completed the four-point play to give the Seraphs a 73-70 lead with less than a minute to go.

Consistent with the theme of big plays that defined the game, Canyon’s Isaac Yuhico launched a 3-pointer with 21 seconds left that rolled around the rim for what felt like an eternity, before dropping through the net to tie the game and force a second overtime.

Canyon built a four-point cushion with two minutes left in double overtime, but Wilson hit a 3-pointer to bring St. Bonaventure to within one point. The senior guard had a game-high 28 points, 11 of which came in the overtime periods.

Both teams traded baskets and St. Bonaventure had a chance to win the game with 1.3 seconds left on an inbounds lob pass to Walter Moore that rattled off the rim.

In triple overtime, St. Bonaventure’s Zander Wilson tied the game at 86-86 after scoring in the lane.

With the shot clock off, the Cowboys made sure to hold the ball until the last second to ensure they’d get the final shot.

Yuhico made his move toward the top of the key and drew defenders toward him, finding Madrigal open behind the arc for the title-clinching bucket.

“That was an amazing shot. Just the excitement we felt, the energy, the crowd, just as soon as it went up,” said Sean Hernandez, who had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, plus five assists. “I thought it was off at first, and as soon as I saw it go long, I’m like, ‘Oh, he’s making this one.’ That moment for us to share as a team forever.”

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Yuhico led the Cowboys in scoring with 20 points to go along with four assists and four steals. Chigozie Osuji logged 19 points and nine rebounds and made several difficult shots down the stretch.

Adams and Sam Seiden both scored 16 points for St. Bonaventure, with the latter adding 10 assists and five steals.

The loss was St. Bonaventure’s first in nearly two months. The Seraphs also reached a CIF title game the previous two years, but have been unable to win the final postseason game.

“Be a professional. Keep your head up high,” Wood said his message was to his team after the game. “It’s a tough loss, but Canyon, I give absolute credit to them. They were resilient, and I just told our guys, ‘Hang your head high and be a professional walking out,’ because they didn’t do anything that was wrong. They played a good game. Canyon just played a little bit better.”

This was the first time Canyon reached a CIF-SS title game and the Cowboys get to bring the first title in program history back home.

“All credit to the kids. Basketball is a player’s game,” Monfared said, “and the players deserve all the credit. I’m really just fortunate to be part of this group and I’m fortunate they allow me to coach them. … They’re going to be good husbands and good fathers, and good employees and good bosses. I was never worried about that. But to see these guys come in and win a game like that, that they’re going to have forever, there’s nothing that can beat that.”

Both Canyon and St. Bonaventure will play in the CIF State playoffs that start Tuesday. The pairings will be announced Sunday.

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