Ctr Darius Williams had 23 pts and 11 rebs, and Cerritos held Mira Costa without a field goal for the first ten-plus minutes of the second half in a come-from-behind 73-59 win in the first round of the Cougar Holiday Classic Tuesday afternoon in Santa Clarita.
Williams scored 17 of his points in the first half, keeping Cerritos close after Mira Costa took a 13-point lead, and Cerritos went on a 22-2 run to begin the second half as the Spartans missed their first 16 field goal attempts after halftime.
The second half drought for Mira Costa was in direct contrast to the start of the game, when the Spartans made 7 of their first 8 shots to take an early 14-5 lead. A 3-point play by SF Baptiste Boucharel pushed the margin to 13 points at 31-18 later in the first half.
Cerritos (7-5) got back into the game with a 9-0 run to get within four points at 31-27. Mira Costa scored six of the last eight points of the first half to push the lead back to eight at halftime, 37-29.
Then the second half began, and aside from a pair of free throws by PF Dominique Moreno, Mira Costa (4-6) wouldn't score until a bank-shot by SG Tray Johnson with 9:13 left. A couple of non-calls by the officials on apparent goaltends by Cerritos didnt' help the Mira Costa cause.
Meanwhile, Cerritos took a 40-39 lead on a runner by SF Anthony Scott and pushed the lead to 52-39 on a pair of free throws by PG Robert Gill with 9:58 left in the game. The run was 22-2 and Cerritos led the rest of the way.
Mira Costa rallied one last time, getting within five points after back-to-back 3-pointers by SF Michael Laird and Johnson that made it 52-47. A 3-pointer by SG Mike Franciscus made it a 4-point game at 54-50. At that point those two baskets lost on the goaltending non-calls started looking significant.
But then Cerritos pulled away. A 3-pointer by Gill and a basket by SF Kierre Beverly made it 59-50. Then SG Anthony Holliday scored on three consecutive possessions for the Falcons to push the lead to double digits at 65-55 with 3:58 left. A basket by Scott and a free throw by Williams made it 68-55 and as the great Vin Scully would say, that was that.
Williams had game-highs of 23 pts and 11 rebs, and also had 3 blocked shots for the winners. Holliday had 16 pts and Scott had 13 pts and 9 rebs. Gill had a solid game off the bench with 9 pts, 5 rebs and 3 asts.
For Mira Costa, Johnson led the way with 16 pts. Ctr Andre Warren had 12 pts and Boucharel had 10. PG Evan Watkins had 8 pts and game-highs of 7 asts and 4 steals.
box score
2011 Cougar Holiday Classic
Tuesday, December 27th @ College of the Canyons, Santa Clarita
First Round - 3 pm
Cerritos Falcons 73:
3-Reggie Thomas, PG - 0/4 fg, 3 reb, 2 ast, 0 pts
11-Anthony Holliday, SG - 7/14 fg, 5 reb, 3 ast, 3 pf, 16 pts
22-Kierre Beverly, SF - 2/6 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 pf, 5 pts
23-Willie Edwards, PF - 0/3 fg, 1/2 ft, 4 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 pt
33-Darius Williams, C - 8/15 fg, 7/10 ft, 11 reb, 1 ast, 3 blk, 1 stl, 2 pf, 23 pts
1-Robert Gill, G - 2/5 fg, 3/4 ft, 5 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 9 pts
4-Antony Scott, F - 5/8 fg, 2/2 ft, 9 reb, 2 ast, 13 pts
24-Dominique McGowan, F - 2/3 fg, 5 reb, 2 pf, 4 pts
30-Victor Jones, G - 0/2 fg, 1 stl, 0 pts
31-Dominique Kilgore, C - 0/1 fg, 2/2 ft, 3 reb, 3 blk, 1 stl, 4 pf, 2 pts
2-Jeremy Chadwell, G - 0/2 fg, 2 ast, 0 pts
20-Michael Crosby, F - 2 reb, 0 pts
32-Manny Garcia, G - 0/2 fg, 1 stl, 1 pf, 0 pts
team rebounds: 4
Totals: 26/65 fg (.400), 15/20 ft (.750), 52 reb, 15 ast, 6 blk, 6 stl, 13 pf, 73 pts
3-pt fg (6): Holliday 2, Gill 2, Beverly, Scott
Turnovers (15): Holliday 3, Edwards 2, Gill 2, Kilgore 2, Thomas, Beverly, Scott, McGowan, Jones, Chadwell
Mira Costa Spartans 59:
3-Evan Watkins, PG - 4/10 fg, 0/1 ft, 4 reb, 7 ast, 4 stl, 1 pf, 8 pts
20-Andre Warren, C - 4/10 fg, 4/4 ft, 5 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 3 pf, 12 pts
22-Tray Johnson, SG - 7/14 fg, 6 reb, 1 blk, 2 pf, 16 pts
23-Baptiste Boucharel, SF - 4/6 fg, 2/2 ft, 2 reb, 4 pf, 10 pts
32-Dominique Moreno, PF - 1/9 fg, 3/6 ft, 7 reb, 6 ast, 2 stl, 4 pf, 5 pts
13-Steven Hernandez, G - 1/5 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 2 pf, 2 pts
31-Kevin Ginn, C - 0/2 fg, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 0 pts
11-Michael Laird, F - 1/6 fg, 1 reb, 3 pts
1-Mike Franciscus, G - 1/3 fg, 3 reb, 3 pts
team rebounds: 4
Totals: 23/65 fg (.354), 9/13 ft (.692), 35 reb, 16 ast, 4 blk, 8 stl, 16 pf, 59 pts
3-pt fg (4): Johnson 2, Laird, Franciscus
Intentional Foul: Warren
Turnovers (12): Watkins 3, Moreno 3, Johnson 2, Boucharel 2, Warren, Hernandez
Halftime Score: Mira Costa 37, Cerritos 29
Updated Records: Cerritos 7-5, Mira Costa 4-6
Mira Costa led by 13 at 31-18 in the 1st half but missed its first 16 shots over the first 10:47 of the second half as Cerritos went on a 22-2 run to lead, 52-39.
Mira Costa closed within four points at 54-50, but then Cerritos pulled away.
