#14 Cerritos opened its newly-renovated gynmasium in style Friday night, leading wire to wire as the Falcons posted their 6th straight win, topping Pasadena, 95-85, in a South Coast Conference crossover game.
After a wait of two and a half seasons, Cerritos (12-7) finally got a chance to play in its bright and shiny gym, which is also scheduled to host the 2014 California state tournament. With all new seats and a lot of blue and white paint, the venue is now one of the more festive settings in SoCal.
And the Falcons broke in their new digs in style, leading every step of the way and holding off a late rally from Pasadena (6-13). Cerritos built a 21-point lead with just under 13 minutes left and saw that margin shrink to just 5 points in the final minutes, but pulled away again for the 10-point win.
SF Anthony Holliday scored the first basket in the new building, scoring off a pass from Ctr Marquise Washington 25 seconds into the game. That sparked a 13-2 Cerritos run to start the game that included 3 baskets by Washington.
In a theme that would repeat several times during the evening, Pasadena rallied to cut the deficit to four points but never quite caught up. PF Bryce Clifton scored on an inbounds pass from SG Mike Swanegan Jr. to make it 23-17 with just over 9 minutes left in the half, and scored on a putback with 8:35 left to make it 23-19.
Cerritos scored the game's next six points to lead, 29-19, with 6:21 remaining. Pasadena again cut the deficit to four points at 37-33 after a 3-pointer by Swanegan with 2:41 left in the half, but Cerritos pushed the lead back to 11 points after a 3-pointer by PG Chris Wyms and a lay-up by SG Kevin Conrad made it 45-34. PG Jeffrey Dockett converted a 3-point play for Pasadena with 7.1 seconds left in the half to make it 45-37 at the break.
SF Anthony Holliday hit a jumper for Cerritos in the opening seconds of the second half, and added nother basket about 30 seconds later to push the Falcon lead to 49-37. Washington passed to Conrad for a basket to make it a 13-point game at 53-40 with just over 17 minutes left, and then scored on a putback to make it 55-40 with 16:40 remaining. PF DeAnthony Roberts went coast-to-coast for a lay-up and then passed to Conrad for a fast-break basket to complete a 14-3 Falcon run to open the half, extending the lead to 19 points at 59-40.
Ctr Terence Traylor scored on a hook shot with just under 13 minutes left to give Cerritos a 21-point lead with just under 13 minutes left. But Pasadena would put together one last rally, aided by a lot of missed free throws by Cerritos, in those final 13 minutes.
SF Marquise Tolson scored off a pass from PF Alec Tatum to get Pasadena within 13 points at 80-67 with 6:15 left. Tatum split two free throws to make it 80-68, and the Lancers also trailed by 12 at 84-72. Then Swanegan hit a 3-pointer to bring Pasadena within 9 points at 84-75 with 3:48 left. Two free throws by Dockett made it a 7-point game at 86-79 with 2:46 left, and Swanegan hit another 3-pointer - his 6th of the game - with 2:12 left to make it a 5-point game at 87-82.
But Cerritos was finally able to put the game away in the final two minutes. Washington scored on a putback to make it 89-82. After the teams exchanged free throws, Conrad scored off a pass from SF David Hall with 1:15 left to make it 92-83. After one more Pasadena free throw, Holliday made two free throws following a steal to push the Falcon lead back to 10 at 94-84 with 44.6 seconds left, securing the win for Cerritos.
Conrad led Cerritos with 21 pts, while adding 4 rebs, 3 asts and 2 steals. Holiday had 19 pts, 3 rebs, 3 asts and 3 steals. Washington had the game's only double-double with 18 pts and a game-high 13 rebs, and he also added 4 asts. Wyms came off the bench for 11 pts and 4 asts, filling in capably for starting PG Amir McCormick, who was plagued with foul trouble the whole game.
For Pasadena, Dockett scored a game-high 24 pts, and perhaps more amazingly also the 5-9 point guard also gathered a team-high 9 rebs. Swanegan hit 6 threes en route to 22 pts, and added 3 asts. Tolson came off the bench for 12 pts on 5-for-6 from the floor.
Overall, Cerritos shot a sizzling 59% from the field in its new gym, including a remarkable 70% in the second half as a lot of their baskets came on lay-ups after breaking the Pasadena press. The Falcons' 52% mark from the free throw line, which included 3 missed front ends of one-and-ones, was all that kept Cerritos from toppping the century mark in its first game in renovated Falcon gymnasium.
box score
Friday, January 25, 2013 - 6 pm
at Falcon Gynmasium, Norwalk
South Coast Conference - Crossover Game
Pasadena Lancers 85:
14-Mike Swanegan Jr., SG - 6/16 fg, 4/4 ft, 1 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 22 pts
22-Steven Shares, SF - 2/6 fg, 3/4 ft, 6 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl, 4 pf, 7 pts
32-Alex Tatum, PF - 3/4 fg, 3/5 ft, 5 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk, 4 pf, 9 pts
33-Lorelle Martin, C - 1 reb, 1 pf, 0 pts
40-Jeffrey Dockett, PG - 7/20 fg, 7/9 ft, 9 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl, 2 pf, 24 pts
23-Gary Matthews, G - 0/6 fg, 1/4 ft, 1 blk, 2 stl, 4 pf, 1 pt
00-Bryce Clifton, F - 3/5 fg, 3/4 ft, 4 reb, 4 ast, 1 blk, 3 pf, 9 pts
13-Marquise Tolson, F - 5/6 fg, 2/3 ft, 3 reb, 2 stl, 5 pf, 12 pts
42-Tramel McClough, C - 3 pf, 0 pts
21-Samuel Stirgus, G - 0/2 fg, 1/2 ft, 1 pt
team rebounds: 6
Totals: 26/65 fg (.400), 24/35 ft (.686), 35 reb, 17 ast, 3 blk, 10 stl, 28 pf, 85 pts
3-pt fg (9): Swanegan 6, Dockett 3
Fouled Out: Tolson 44.6 seconds left
Turnovers (15): Dockett 6, Shares 4, Tatum, Matthews, Clifton, Tolson, Stirgus
Cerritos Falcons 95:
1-Anthony Holliday, SF - 6/10 fg, 6/8 ft, 3 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl, 3 pf, 19 pts
4-Kevin Conrad, SG - 9/13 fg, 3/8 ft, 4 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 2 pf, 21 pts
20-DeAnthony Roberts, PF - 3/3 fg, 1/5 ft, 7 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl, 2 pf, 7 pts
22-Amir McCormick, PG - 4 pf, 0 pts
32-Marquise Washington, C - 8/13 fg, 2/4 ft, 13 reb, 4 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 4 pf, 18 pts
23-David Hall, F - 1/6 fg, 5/8 ft, 6 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 7 pts
34-Andrew Torres, F - 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 0 pts
2-Jordan Reise, F - 1/3 fg, 2/2 ft, 1 reb, 1 ast, 4 pts
11-Chris Wyms, G - 4/7 fg, 1/2 ft, 4 ast, 1 stl, 3 pf, 11 pts
35-Terence Traylor, C - 1/1 fg, 3 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 3 pf, 2 pts
24-Jon Benson, F - 2/3 fg, 2/5 ft, 2 reb, 3 ast, 6 pts
team rebounds: 5
Totals: 35/59 fg (.593), 22/42 ft (.524), 46 reb, 25 ast, 3 blk, 12 stl, 23 pf, 95 pts
3-pt fg (3): Wyms 2, Holliday
Turnovers (15): Hall 4, Wyms 3, Conrad 2, Holliday, Roberts, McCormick, Washington, Torres, Benson
Halftime Score: Cerritos 45, Pasadena 37
Updated Records: Cerritos (#14-South) 12-7, Pasadena 6-13
Cerritos led wire to wire, started the 2nd half with a 14-3 run and opened a 65-44 lead with just under 13 minutes left.
Pasadena rallied to within 5 at 87-82 with 2:12 left after a Swanegan 3-pt FG.
A putback basket by Washington, basket by Conrad and 3 FTs by Holliday pushed Cerritos' lead back to 10 at 94-84.
This was the first game at the newly-renovated Falcon Gynmasium!
