It was a tale of 2 halves. In the first half, Saddleback shot 46% and forced 12 LACC turnovers to lead, 31-30, at the break.
But in the second half, LA City took over. The Cubs shot 65% from the field (13/20) and held Saddleback to 33% (9/27), jumping out to a double-digit lead midway through the half and never allowing Saddleback closer than 8 points after that.
LA City got a marvelous performance from PG Jerel Blassingame, who scored a game-high 28 pts. SF Romel Beck added 12, while Ctr Julian Sensley had 10 pts and 8 rebs. PF Tyrone Riley grabbed 13 rebs as he and Sensley outrebounded the entire Saddleback team (21-20). For the game, LACC outrebounded Saddleback 35-20 and outshot them 58% to 40%, which more than made up for their 23 turnovers.
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unofficial box score:
Saddleback Gauchos 53:
12-David Pak, PG - 2/12 fg, 1/2 ft, 2 reb, 4 ast, 3 stl, 6 pts
21-Marques Crane, SF - 7/16 fg, 4/7 ft, 4 reb, 2 ast, 2 blk, 1 stl, 18 pts
25-Justin Griffin, SG - 2/5 fg, 2 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 4 pts
34-Andre Hardwick, C - 3/7 fg, 2/2 ft, 6 reb, 1 stl, 8 pts
41-Chad Bigler, PF - 4/6 fg, 2/4 ft, 2 reb, 11 pts
32-Chase Peterson, F - 2/2 fg, 1 reb, 4 pts
13-Brandon Sievers, G - 0/2 fg, 0 pts
11-Justin Bell, G - 1/3 fg, 3 ast, 1 stl, 2 pts
45-Chris Powell, C - 2 reb, 1 stl, 0 pts
team rebounds: 1
Totals: 21/53 fg (.396), 9/15 ft (.600), 20 reb, 10 ast, 2 blk, 9 stl, 53 pts
3-pt fg (2): Pak, Bigler
Turnovers (14): Pak 4, Crane 3, Hardwick 2, Bell 2, Griffin, Bigler, Sievers
LA City Cubs 69:
1-Romel Beck, SF - 5/6 fg, 6 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 12 pts
3-Tyrone Riley, PF - 2/5 fg, 0/1 ft, 13 reb, 4 ast, 3 blk, 4 pts
10-Jerel Blassingame, PG - 9/17 fg, 8/9 ft, 1 reb, 3 ast, 28 pts
33-Wilbur Williams, SG - 4/6 fg, 1/1 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl, 9 pts
41-Julian Sensley, C - 3/6 fg, 2/2 ft, 8 reb, 5 ast, 2 blk, 10 pts
21-Nashid Beard, C - 0 pts
24-Anthony Davis, F - 0/1 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 0 pts
11-Lanere Anderson, G - 1/1 fg, 1/2 ft, 1 stl, 4 pts
5-Dwaun Rice, G - 1/1 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 2 pts
team rebounds: 2
Totals: 25/43 fg (.581), 12/15 ft (.800), 35 reb, 16 ast, 6 blk, 5 stl, 69 pts
3-pt fg (7): Beck 2, Blassingame 2, Sensley 2, Anderson
Turnovers (23): Sensley 6, Williams 5, Blassingame 4, Riley 3, Rice 3, Beck, team
Halftime Score: Saddleback 31, LA City 30
Updated Records: LA City 35-2, Saddleback 29-7
This rematch of last year's title game ends Saddleback's reign as champions.
Note: LA City beat Fresno, 90-82, in the Championship game 3/16 to win the 2002-03 California State Championship. Blassingame was named Tourney MVP.
