Eagles gain narrow win over Jaguars
The Christian Learning boys held on to defeat Cooperative by two points in an old-fashioned, knockdown, drag-out basketball battle in the Jaguars gym Thursday afternoon.
Two three-pointers in the last minute were not quite enough to pull the Jaguars even. The key reason was that the Jaguar shots had been preceded by three straight short jumpers swished through the hoop by Eagle junior Kyle Swope. Those six points, put on the board while the Jaguars had been held scoreless, gave the Eagles just enough to preserve the victory.
The teams went at it hot and heavy from the start, playing with an intensity normally reserved for playoff games. The Eagles got out to a quick lead, and were ahead 13-4 at the end of the first quarter. The Jaguars counterattacked in the second quarter, and by halftime the game was knotted at 20-20.
The Jaguars pulled even on two foul shots by Taborga that were shot after the half had ended. Taborga's long shot at the first half buzzer had gone in-and-out, but he was fouled.
The second half followed the same pattern as the first, with Christian Learning building a lead in the third quarter, and then Cooperative storming back.
The Eagles led 33-24 at the end of the third stanza, but with a few minutes to go the Jaguars trailed by only one basket, 35-33. Kyle Swope's six points built the Eagle lead to 41-33, with only a minute left. The three-pointers by Taborga cut the margin back to two.
Taborga led all scorers with 21 points. Juan Peredo added 10 for the Jaguars, Daniel Linggi 4, and Diego Morales 2.
Christian Learning's top scorer was Danny Canaviri with 14. Paul Estes posted 13, Kyle Swope finished with 7. Tim Swope, Josh Mann, and David Lotz had a field goal each, and Jeff Stabler had one free throw.
The game was played before a large, enthusiastic crowd so full of Christian Learning fans that it seemed as if the Eagles were the home team.
Style note: The Christian Learning boys team set a new standard for sartorial splendor by showing up wearing ties, making them appear vaguely reminiscent of a Big Ten team arriving at an away game, except that plaid shirts were allowed instead of requiring either plain white or Oxford blue. What next -- blazers?
Knights down Griffins, 38-7
The Cambridge College boys varsity basketball team used a suffocating defense and a diversified offensive attack to defeat International 38-7 in a game played at Cambridge Thursday.
The Knights led 30-0 at the half, in a game which represented a homecoming of sorts for International coach Eduardo "Presi" de la Riva, who was formerly the athletic director at Cambridge.
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FIRING AWAY Cambridge's Sergio Palazuelos gets off a shot over Andres de Lozada of International -- Jonatan Muñoz, International
The Knights was paced by Benjamin Ezpeleta, a senior who arrived at the school this year after moving to Bolivia from Miami, Florida, in the United States. He had 15 points, including a three-pointer. Jose Luis Rivero, a 7th grader, had eight points, including two three-pointers. Jose Manuel Salas, a junior, had 7; Zhau Fua Zhou Zeng, also a junior, had 4; Tae Han Kook and Josep Song had two points each.
Cambridge used all 12 players who dressed for the game, and all incurred at least one foul.
For International, David Huang had 4 points and Martin Gonzales 3.
