Saugus had a chance to win last Friday, but came up short in the final seconds.
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On Tuesday, the Centurions made sure the game never reached that point.

Thanks to good defense and a hot shooting night by guard Jawhar Purdy, Saugus defeated Hart 76-61 at Hart High School.

The Centurions (16-9, 4-5) were particularly effective on defense in the third quarter, when they held Hart to 12.5 percent shooting, including a 1-of-11 mark from beyond the arc.

It was a strong rebound game for Saugus, which lost a close game to Canyon last Friday.

“We wanted to play our defense and keep any shots from being available,” said Saugus head coach Derek Ballard. “I was worried we’d come out flat after the disheartening loss at Canyon, but I never question (the players’) heart.”

The Indians (5-21, 0-9), meanwhile, tried to get the ball inside, but Saugus’ size forced them to kick out and take shots from the perimeter.

“We had a hard time going inside,” said Hart head coach Tom Kelly. “If you live on the perimeter you’re going to fail on the perimeter.”

Purdy had a good night from the outside, consistently hitting pull-up jumpers and shooting 70 percent from the field.

He led all scorers with 16 points, but Ballard said he made plenty of other contributions.

“He was great all-around,” Ballard said. “He saw the open guy and that was huge.”

Saugus built a nine-point lead after the first quarter, but Hart cut the advantage to three on a couple of different occasions in the second.
Each time, the Centurions had an answer and stretched the lead back to a more comfortable margin.

Hart forward Kevin Lamb got more aggressive in the second half and scored 12 points. Guard Nolan Rhett also scored 12 points to share the team lead, while forward Cole Preston added 11 points.

Hart point guard Roman Delgado struggled to find a rhythm against Saugus’ 2-3 zone and finished with just seven points.

“He took good shots,” Kelly said. “They just didn’t go down. We ask him to do so much, he’s just tired.”

Saugus had another balanced night, as 11 different Centurions scored. Brad Buchignani had 14 points, while Sean Picard added nine and Ian Engle, Jon Grisanti and Joey Fredrick each scored eight.

Hart will finish its season at Golden Valley on Thursday, while Saugus will travel to face Valencia.

“We’re going to be ready to go to work,” Ballard said.