LA City (26-2) served notice that the road to the State Championship goes through them with a resounding 86-74 win over defending Champion Saddleback (21-6) Saturday night at LACC.
SG Anthony Davis led a balanced Cub attack with 19 pts, one of 5 LA City players in double figures. PF Tyrone Riley had 15 pts and 7 rebs, while SF Romel Beck scored 15 and PG Jerel Blassingame added 14 from off the bench.
Saddleback lost despite a remarkable game from SF Marques Crane, who scored 34 pts on 12 of 15 shooting, including 7 threes.
Crane staked the Gauchos to an early 15-9 lead by knocking down his first 4 shots of the night, including 3 threes.
But Saddleback had to know this one would be a tough victory with they found themselves trailing, 29-26, with 8 minutes left in the half. At the time, the Gauchos were shooting 73% from the floor! For the first half, they shot a sizzling 60% from the field but still trailed 42-36 at the break.
Davis scored 10 pts in the first half while Beck and Riley added 8 each to give LACC their halftime lead. Riley's tip-in of a Dewan Rice miss just before the buzzer gave the Cubs a 6-point edge at intermission.
Saddleback stayed close into the second half, trailing just 49-45 until an 8-0 LACC run extended the margin to 12. A 3-pointer by Beck capped the rally.
And Saddleback lost its starting PG moments later. After David Pak stole an errant Blassingame pass, he took the ball the length of the floor and went up for the layup. But Blassingame had recovered, and stood in to take the charge. That was Pak's 5th foul, which came with 10:26 left in the game.
A pair of 3-pointers by Crane helped Saddleback claw a little closer to 62-54 a few minutes later, but a pullup jumper by Blassingame and a thunderous jam by Ctr Julian Sensley with 7:47 restored LACC's margin to 12 at 66-54.
The Cubs led the rest of the way by at least 10.
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Saturday, February 8, 2003 - 7:30 pm
at LA City College
Saddleback Gauchos 74:
12-David Pak, PG - 4/6 fg, 4 ast, 1 stl, 9 pts
21-Marques Crane, SF - 12/15 fg, 3/4 ft, 4 reb, 1 ast, 34 pts
25-Justin Griffin, SG - 2/7 fg, 1 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl, 4 pts
34-Andre Hardwick, C - 3/8 fg, 1/2 ft, 7 reb, 1 ast, 7 pts
41-Chad Bigler, PF - 1/2 fg, 0/2 ft, 1 reb, 2 stl, 2 pts
11-Justin Bell, G - 1/4 fg, 0/1 ft, 2 reb, 4 ast, 3 pts
13-Brandon Sievers, G - 0 pts
33-Jamaal Hall, F/G - 4/8 fg, 0/2 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 11 pts
32-Francisco Flores, F - 1/1 fg, 1 reb, 2 pts
45-Chris Powell, C - 0/1 fg, 2/2 ft, 2 reb, 3 blk, 2 pts
team rebounds: 3
Totals: 28/52 fg (.538), 6/13 ft (.462), 24 reb, 13 ast, 4 blk, 5 stl, 74 pts
3-pt fg (12): Crane 7, Hall 3, Pak, Bell
Fouled Out: Pak 10:26 left
Turnovers (14): Hall 5, Pak 4, Crane 3, Hardwick, Flores
LA City Cubs 86:
3-Tyrone Riley, PF - 6/9 fg, 3/4 ft, 7 reb, 2 ast, 15 pts
5-Dwaun Rice, PG - 2/4 fg, 1/1 ft, 3 ast, 5 pts
24-Anthony Davis, SG - 7/10 fg, 1/2 ft, 1 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 19 pts
33-Wilbur Williams, SF - 3/7 fg, 4/6 ft, 8 reb, 2 ast, 10 pts
41-Julian Sensley, C - 3/5 fg, 1/4 ft, 5 reb, 3 ast, 2 blk, 2 stl, 8 pts
1-Romel Beck, F - 5/8 fg, 3/4 ft, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 15 pts
10-Jerel Blassingame, G - 5/7 fg, 1/4 ft, 2 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 14 pts
13-Jaqay Carlyle, F - 1 ast, 0 pts
21-Nashid Beard, C - 0/1 fg, 3 reb, 0 pts
11-Lanere Anderson , G - 0 pts
team rebounds: 4
Totals: 31/51 fg (.608), 14/25 ft (.560), 31 reb, 17 ast, 2 blk, 7 stl, 86 pts
3-pt fg (10): Davis 4, Blassingame 3, Beck 2, Sensley
Turnovers (13): Davis 4, Riley 2, Rice 2, Beck 2, Blassingame 2, Sensley
Halftime Score: LACC 42, Saddleback 36
Updated Records: LACC (#1 South, #2 Calif) 26-2; Saddleback (#3 South, #6 Calif) 21-6
This was a rematch of the 2002 State Championship game, which Saddleback won by a point. The game was rescheduled from its original date of 1/4.
