Eagles walk all over Jaguars
By Trevor Reed
Christian Learning Center
The Christian Learning boys varsity basketball team played hard Thursday afternoon in their home gym, and had surprisingly little difficulty disposing of the Jaguars, 41-19.
The game was not nearly as close as the first game between these two schools, which the Eagles had won 41-39. The Jaguars only excuse was that they were still without the services of senior Pablo Taborga, who led all scorers with 21 points when the two teams clashed the first time. Taborga has now missed two consecutive games with an injured ankle.
However, the Jaguars had three big players on the floor who have shown they are capable of scoring in double figures, yet could barely make the Eagles break a sweat.
The Eagles moved out to a 11-0 lead before the Jaguars finally sank two free throws. The Christian Learning lead lead continued to expand, and the Eagles finished the first half ahead 26-8.
The Eagles focused a lot on defense in the second half, though they kept up their scoring as well. The Jaguars began to make more of an effort, but they could not come close to overcoming the early lead accumulated by the Eagles.
With only seconds remaining the score was 41-16, but just before the final buzzer a Jaguar player shot a three-point shot, making the score a mildly more respectable 41-19. The Jaguar effort fell far short of preventing the Eagles from stretching their undefeated string to three straight.
But there could be more excitement to come when action resumes later this month. Due to a scheduling quirk Cambridge and Christian Learning, who played in last year's championship game -- who always have played each other in the championship game -- do not play until the second half of the season, when they will play each other twice in the final three weeks.
Individual scoring statistics for the Jaguars to come.
Cambridge 42, International 39
Knights escape vengeful Griffins
By Anna Saavedra Banzer
Cambridge College
Something went wrong with the Cambridge varsity boys basketball team's plan to pick up their third straight win with an easy victory over winless International, and in the process chivalrously avenge the untimely defeat of the Lady Knights earlier in the afternoon.
The Knights ended up having to fight for their lives to salvage a 42-39 win.
There was an early indication that this game would be different from the first game between the two teams, when Cambridge routed International 8-7 after having led 30-0 at the half. Griffin guard David Huang put International out front 2-0 by scoring the first points of the game.
It was 12-6 in favor of International at the end of the first quarter, with Cambridge's seventh grade phenom Jose Ribera scoring a three pointer at the end of the period to keep the score even that close.
The Knights were now fully aware that this was not going to be the easy win they might have expected, and increased their efforts, tallying 19 points in the second quarter, but International stayed on the pace with 16, and continued to lead at the half, 28-25.
The gym was full of nervous excitement as the second half began, as a major upset appeared to be in the making. Both teams had cooled off, however, and the scoring pace slowed. Cambridge gradually tightened the score, and at the end of the third quarter the score was knotted, 33-33.
The two teams, tiring like boxers in the last rounds of a fight, battled each other basket for basket through the final quarter, and with 38 seconds left Cambridge led by one field goal, 41-39. Both teams scrambled for the ball in the tumultuous final seconds, with several fouls being called. A technical foul against Cambridge gave International four shots in the final minute, but all four were missed. The only scoring was one free throw that Cambridge made to give the Knights their final three-point margin of victory.
Benjamin Ezpeleta was Cambridge's top scorer, with 16 points, followed closely by Juan Manuel Salas with 13. Ribera ended up with nine points, all on three-pointers, and Zhau Fua Zhou Zeng had four.
Huang of International was the leading scorer for International, knocking in 19 points, his high for the year. Ernando Tesch and Mario Rohrman each added six, Martin Gonzales 4, Christopher Saltzieder 2, and Alex Roempler 2. Rohrman's rebounding was outstanding. This story includes information from coaches' reports.
