#4 Citrus (15-1) shot 63% from the floor in the first half, building a 20-point halftime lead and coasting to an easy 95-82 win over #10 El Camino (12-4) Friday night in Glendora.
SF Buchi Awaji made 8 of 9 shots from the floor for a game-high 19 pts, and SG Darren Moore made 7 of 9 shots from the floor for 18 pts to lead the Owls. PG Steven Bennett came off the bench to score 11 pts and dish out 4 asts.
The game was tied, 2-2, in the opening minute, after a basket by Awaji for Citrus and a basket by Ctr Jonathan Lucas for El Camino. But after that, Citrus scored the game's next 6 points to take the lead, and gradually expanded the margin the rest of the half.
Citrus pushed the lead into double figures after a 3-pointer by SG Virgil (JR) Buensuceso made it 36-25 with 6:44 left in the first half. The lead was expanded to 12 points at 37-25 after a free throw by SF Jeremy Smith about a minute later, and to 15 points at 48-33 after a 3-pointer by Moore with 2:50 left in the half.
Citrus continued to expand the lead as the first half wore down. A pair of free throws by Moore pushed it to 17 at 52-35 with 1:40 remaining, and a driving lay-up by PG Kelly Johnson made it a 19-point game at 54-35 with 1:10 left before halftime. Then a basket by Moore on a dish from Johnson with 42 seconds left made it 56-35. A free throw by Ctr A.J. Greenwood after a rebound with 18.7 seconds left before halftime made it a 22-point game at 57-35. El Camino cut the halftime margint to 20 on a baseline drive by SF Stephen Peres just before the halftime buzzer.
For the first half, Citrus shot 63% from the floor (24 for 38) and had just 7 turnovers in a near-flawless performance. El Camino, by contrast, shot a respectable 50% from the floor and was still 20 points behind at the break.
In the second half, the Citrus lead fluctuated between 14 and 22 points until El Camino cut the margin to 12 points at 94-82 with 39.4 seconds left in the game. By that time, both teams had been using their reserves for much of the second half.
Eleven Owls scored in the game for Citrus, which had almost as many points from the bench (46) as from the starters (49). Johnson had a strong game at PG with 4 pts, a game-high 7 asts, 3 steals and just one turnover. Greenwood, normally Citrus' 12th man, saw extended playing time and responded with 7 pts, a game-high 7 rebs and 2 blocks.
For El Camino, PF Kris Lawrie led the way with 13 pts, 6 rebs and 3 steals. PG Joey Knox had 11 pts and 5 asts, and Ctr Chuck Gray had 11 pts and 6 rebs. SF Marcellus Cullors, the team's leading scorer entering the game, had 8 pts, 6 rebs and 5 asts but was just 2-for-10 from the floor.
box score
Friday, December 21, 2007 - 6 pm
at Citrus College, Glendora
El Camino Warriors 82:
4-Joey Knox, PG - 3/10 fg, 5/6 ft, 1 reb, 5 ast, 2 pf, 11 pts
5-Marcellus Cullors, SF - 2/10 fg, 4/6 ft, 6 reb, 5 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl, 1 pf, 8 pts
12-Jarrod Carroll, SG - 3/8 fg, 1/2 ft, 1 reb, 3 ast, 2 blk, 1 stl, 1 pf, 8 pts
32-Kris Lawrie, PF - 4/5 fg, 5/6 ft, 6 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 3 stl, 4 pf, 13 pts
44-Jonathan Lucas, C - 3/7 fg, 2 reb, 1 blk, 2 pf, 6 pts
30-Chuck Gray, C - 5/7 fg, 1/2 ft, 6 reb, 1 stl, 1 pf, 11 pts
10-Chad Hunt, G - 3/6 fg, 3 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 3 pf, 7 pts
13-Stephen Peres, F - 4/7 fg, 3 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 1 pf, 9 pts
42-Marquis Wright, G - 2/4 fg, 5/6 ft, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 5 pf, 9 pts
23-Erin Fortune, F - 1 ast, 1 pf, 0 pts
40-Jeffrey Bobo, F - 0 pts
team rebounds: 6
Totals: 29/64 fg (.453), 21/28 ft (.750), 36 reb, 20 ast, 7 blk, 8 stl, 21 pf, 82 pts
3-pt fg (3): Carroll, Hunt, Peres
Fouled Out: Wright 23.5 secs left
Turnovers (24): Knox 7, Cullors 3, Carroll 3, Lawrie 3, Hunt 3, Wright 3, Lucas, Gray
Citrus Owls 95:
10-Kelly Johnson, PG - 2/4 fg, 0/1 ft, 2 reb, 7 ast, 3 stl, 1 pf, 4 pts
15-Darren Moore, SG - 7/9 fg, 3/3 ft, 3 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl, 2 pf, 18 pts
20-A.J. Gasporra, PF - 0/3 fg, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 0 pts
25-Buchi Awaji, SF - 8/9 fg, 2/6 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 pf, 19 pts
44-Richard Frohlich, C - 4/7 fg, 4 reb, 2 ast, 2 blk, 3 pf, 8 pts
3-Virgil (JR) Buensuceso, G - 3/7 fg, 1/1 ft, 1 re,b 2 ast, 9 pts
5-Nate Richardson, G - 3/4 fg, 1 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 6 pts
14-Jeremy Smith, F - 1/3 fg, 1/2 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 3 pf, 3 pts
23-Ralph Monday, F - 3/6 fg, 6 reb, 1 ast, 2 blk, 2 pf, 6 pts
30-Troy Payne, C - 1/5 fg, 2/4 ft, 6 reb, 4 stl, 2 pf, 4 pts
12-Steven Bennett, G - 4/6 fg, 3/5 ft, 3 reb, 4 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 2 pf, 11 pts
40-A.J. Greenwood, C - 3/8 fg, 1/4 ft, 7 reb, 2 blk, 1 pf, 7 pts
32-Valentine Ike, F - 2 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 3
Totals: 39/71 fg (.549), 13/26 ft (.500), 43 reb, 24 ast, 10 blk, 13 stl, 22 pf, 95 pts
3-pt fg (4): Buensuceso 2, Moore, Awaji
Turnovers (20): Frohlich 5, Bennett 4, Smith 3, Payne 3, Johnson, Moore, Gasporra, Awaji, Monday
Halftime Score: Citrus 57, El Camino 37
Updated Records: Citrus (#4-South, #7-Calif) 15-1; El Camino (#10-South, #19-Calif) 12-4
Citrus shot 63% from the floor in the 1st half
