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Boys' Basketball |
With an extraordinary record of 17 wins and only 2 losses and with a perfect 6-0 record in league, the Eagles were poised and ready for an epoch battle with Centennial. The Centennial Apaches game into the game with a perfect record of 15 wins no losses and thus the league battle for first place was set. The game started out as a game of such magnitude should, with both teams scoring back and forth. After one quarter, the Eagles led 14 to 11. Centennial opened a lead in the second quarter, but the Eagles fought back and Shaun Kemp scored at the buzzer at halftime to tie the game at 28. The game was close throughout and going into the fourth quarter the Eagles held a one-point lead. But the visiting Apaches outscored El Segundo 16-6 in the fourth quarter and forced six turnovers. Centennial also managed to hold Dashawn Strong to only two points in the final period after he had scored all 10 of the Eagle's third quarter points. Strong finished with 22 points to lead all scorers. Jeremy Hopson added 14, but it wasn't enough as Centennial's Gabriel Pruitt scored 10 points in the fourth quarter which included two consecutive three-pointers to give Centennial a 55 to 45 win. The loss was a tough one for the Eagles, but was nothing to be ashamed of as Centennial was ranked 3rd in the La Times polls.
Looking to rebound from their first league loss of the season, the Eagles traveled Hawthorne to try and complete the season series sweep of the Cougars. The Eagles began the game with their two leading scores, Hopson and Strong, on the bench for missing the team bus. Hawthorne came out determined to challenge the Eagles and the game was close up to the fourth quarter when the Cougars self destructed with frustration and received two player technical fouls and one coach technical. The Eagles hit all the clutch fourth quarter field goals to finally open up a gap on the Cougars. Despite the first quarter benching, Hopson had 11 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter and grabbed a season-high 14 rebounds. Strong had nine of his 14 points in the fourth quarter and added 12 rebounds and six assists. Mike McCullough contributed 14 points, a season-high. Tino Gomez had nine points and D'Andre Mathieu got hot and poured in nine more for El Segundo. The Eagles despite a slow start, managed a 68 to 57 victory.
In the next game against Beverly Hills the Eagles came out lackadaisically and had to pull out a last minute win, knocking off the Beverly Hills Normans 57 to 55.
The Eagle's next match up was against the South Torrance Spartans. After their last meeting's controversy, the Eagles were determined to make the final score one that South would not dare to challenge. The Eagles came out fired up and cruised their way to a 62 to 49 victory. Strong tallied 24 points and 16 grabbed rebounds, Hopson scored 18 points and brought down seven boards and Gomez added 10 points in the win.
After blowing out Culver City 81 to 57 in their first competition, the Eagles looked rather uninspired in the second meeting. Culver came out hoping to overthrow the high ranked Eagles and gave El Segundo a tough game. The Eagles nearly paid for overlooking the Culver City Centaurs, but Strong iced the close game after sinking two free-throws with under a half minute to play. Strong led El Segundo with 17 points and 13 rebounds in the 50 to 47 win.
In the Eagle's final home game of the regular season, they played host to the West Torrance Warriors who were looking to secure a spot in the playoffs. West brought a large cheering section complete with bells and megaphones to try and throw off the Eagles. After yet another tough game, the Eagles found themselves trailing by 10 going into the fourth quarter. The El Segundo bench along with the wonderful cheer squad began to pump up the team and for the first time this season the El Segundo student body rallied behind their team and cheered them on. In an amazing performance, the Eagles turned the game around coming back from 10 points and won by the final score of El Segundo 61, West Torrance 53. Strong scored 22 points and had 13 rebounds, Jeramie Hopson finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds and Mike McCullough scored 18 points and had six assists in the win. The win put the Eagles at 12-1 in league, 23-3 overall going into their final game of the regular season.
The win against West put the Eagles in the position to play Centennial for the league championship in the final game of the regular season. The Apaches boasted an incredible record of 13-0 in league and 24-0 overall. If the Eagles could knock off the undefeated Apaches, the two teams would split the Ocean League title. Unfortunately for the Eagles, the Apaches decided they didn't want to share the spotlight. The Apaches came out blazing and opened a quick lead that the Eagles could not come back from. Hopson led the Eagles with 19 points and 12 rebounds and Strong contributed 16 points and 11 rebounds, but the Eagles never led and fell 66 to 42. With the final game of the regular season in the books, the Eagles finished 23-4 overall and 12-2 in league and second place in the Ocean League.
Despite the tough loss, the Eagles season is far from over. Ranked 18th in Southern California and number 1 in Division 4AA, the Eagles will now look to win the CIF championships. The CIF playoffs will be a 32 team single elimination tournament, with the Eagles drawing the number 1 seed. In the first round the Eagles faced Maranatha at home on Friday the 15th. Should the Eagles succeed in defeating Maranatha they will play Tuesday the 19th, then in the quarterfinals on Friday the 22nd, in the semifinals on Tuesday the 26th and finally in the Finals on the first of March. The games locations after the first round will be decided by a coin toss after each round and the final game will be held at Loyola Marymount, so please come out and support your Eagles in their quest for a championship ring!