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Boy's Basketball Win League |
After winning the Serrano Tournament and placing second in the El Segundo Tournament, the Eagles were 7-1 and had made it to the finals in both tournament appearances. The Eagles opened league play on December 18 against the Hawthorne Cougars. Hawthorne had knocked off the Eagles twice in summer ball, and the Eagles were looking for revenge. The Eagles jumped out to a quick 36-22 lead in the first half, but just when it seemed the Eagles were ready to run-away with the game, Hawthorne waged a strong comeback. The Eagles became fatigued and Hawthorne cut the lead down to just four points. But, Jeramie Hopson heated up and went 3 for 6 from behind the arc to secure an Eagle victory. Hopson and Dashawn Strong were a potent one-two punch, as both scored 27 points. Point-guard Mike McCullough tallied 8 points and Tino Gomez was the teams only other scorer, contributing 3 points. The Eagles went on to win 65 to 57.
Over the Winter Break, the Eagles traveled to Bakersfield for the Garces High Basketball tournament. Their first opponent in the tournament was San Joaquin Memorial. Despite strong performances by San Joaquin high-flyer Lawrence who scored 27 and speedy point-guard Williams who went for 23, the Eagles managed to pull off the upset of San Joaquin. Strong was unbelievable in the first half, he shot from all over the floor and scored 22 en route to a game high 30. Despite early heroics by Strong, the Eagles found themselves trailing by 2 at the halftime buzzer. The Eagles came out with tenacious defense in the second half and grabbed the lead. Hopson added 16 points in the 60 to 56 win. The Eagle's next opponent was Liberty High. El Segundo raced out of the gates and to a 39-22 halftime lead. They never looked back from there. Hopson was the games scoring leader with 22, Strong contributed 19, D'Andre Mathieu came off the pine and quickly scored 8 points and McCullough had 6. The Eagles coasted to a 70-39 blowout of Liberty.
In the Eagles next game, they faced the highly favored Garces High. The game was a tough battle, but after the first whistle the Eagles trailed by 9. The Eagles managed to hang around for a while, but the home crowd and the Garces seven footer Robert Swift got the best of the Eagles. A ten point run in the fourth quarter iced the game for Garces. Strong had 26 points and Hopson had 13 for the Eagles in the 69 to 51 loss. The following game featured the Eagles against St. Joseph. Strong found himself in foul trouble and sat out most of the 3rd quarter, but Jeramie Hopson dialed in long distance four times on his way to 20 points to help pull the listless Eagles to a close 58-54 win. In the Eagles final game of the tournament, they faced off against Safter High School. The tough defense and Hopson's foul trouble made the game a close one. After a fast-paced 4 quarters, the game was dead even at the final buzzer. In overtime, the Eagles outscored Shafter 8 to 3 to get the win. Strong led the way with 35 points, scoring 25 of his points in the second half and overtime. McCullough contributed 5, Dave Cryan, Gomez and Ron Hogan each had 4 points, and Mathieu hit a 3. The win put the Eagles in a three-way tie with Garces and San Joaquin Memorial for first place. After a point differential break-down, the Eagles received the third place trophy. After school resumed from Winter break, the Eagles hosted the Torrance Tartars in the second league game of the season.
The Eagles put the game in the refrigerator early, going on a 22-4 first quarter run. At the half, the Eagles led 30 to 13 and never looked back. Strong tallied 20 points, Hopson added 21, Gomez and McCullough each scored 8 and Gomez had 6. The final score was El Segundo 63, Torrance 54. For their next game, the Eagles journeyed to Beverly Hills to take on the Normans. Once again, the Eagles came out strong and showed their prowess jumping out to a 31-10 halftime lead. The leading scorers were Strong with 14 and Hopson with 12. In another great defensive performance, the Eagles held their opponent to only 30 points, winning 49 to 30. The Eagles, riding a 4 game winning streak, next headed to South Torrance to challenge the South High Spartans. South came out eager to knock off the undefeated in league Eagles. After the first half of play, the Eagles found themselves facing a 10 point deficit. But, the Eagles were not to be denied, and in the second half, led a courageous comeback to tie the game up in the final moments. With only 3.9 seconds remaining, Strong put the hopes of the team on his back and carried the team to victory with a game winning layup. At the end of the game, the scoreboard showed El Segundo winning, 48-47. But, after both teams were already in the locker room, both coaches were later called out and told that the official scorecards from both teams had South Torrance winning, 47-46.
After reviewing the scorebooks, Coach Sabosky found a free throw that Strong had previously made had not been counted, thus tying the game at 47. The game was then listed as a tie with a protest to be settled. After watching the game on film, Sabosky said it was not a free throw, but a basket by Strong that was missed by both teams' scorers. After viewing the tape, South agreed that the final score was El Segundo 48, South Torrance 47. In the dramatic win, Strong had 28 points, Hopson had 11, Gomez had 7 and McCullough contributed 5. The Eagles next played host to the Culver City Centaurs. In the first half, Strong lit up Culver for 22, while Hopson stroked his way to 17 points. Tino Gomez was on fire from three point range, scoring all 14 of his points in the third quarter. The Eagles dominated Culver in all aspects of the game and overwhelmed the Centaurs, winning 81 to 57. Strong finished the game with 28 and Hopson finished with 22. McCullough, Cryan and Mike Smith each had a pair of baskets, Aaron Berger had 3 points and Ron Hogan chipped in with 2 points. Now 5-0 in league, the Eagles ventured to West Torrance to take on the Warriors.
The game was close throughout, and in a mirror image of the South game, the Eagles found themselves needing some late heroics. Once again Strong stepped up and scored the much needed basket for the Eagles. With 8 seconds left, the Eagles tightened up on defense and stopped West from scoring. The 51-49 win put the Eagles at a perfect 6-0 in league heading into the big match up against 5-0 Centennial Friday night. Strong scored 21, Hopson added 11, and Cryan had 8. Thus, the stage is set for a battle of the Titans.
The El Segundo Eagles are now 17-2 overall, 6-0 in league and ranked #1 in Division 4AA and ranked #16 in Southern California. They will face the Apaches who are currently 15-0 overall, 5-0 in league and ranked #2 in Division 3A and #3 in Southern California. The Eagles will look to Strong who is averaging 23 points, 13 boards and 4 assists per game. Of the remaining starters, Hopson is averaging 18 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists. Gomez is averaging 7 points, 7 boards and 3 assists, Cryan is averaging 4 points and 4 rebounds and McCullough is averaging 7 points and 5 assists.