DEE-FENSE! -- Eagle Jeff Stabler (7) suppresses a Griffin lay-up.Jonatan Muñoz, International
Christian Learning 65, International 23
Eagles finish perfect season with excellent win
The Christian Learning boys varsity basketball team completed its undefeated season with a smashing 65-23 win over International that will go far to preserve the team's place in League history.
The Eagles posted their highest point total of the year, and missed by one point matching their biggest victory margin of the year. Moreover they did it against a determined and talented International team that came into the game shooting for the stars.
The high energy fumes that the Griffins had apparently been inhaling only lasted through the first quarter, however. At the end of it the Eagles led by only a single point, 9-8, and the large contingent of Christian Learning fans on hand in the packed gym had to be feeling a little jittery.
Eagles finish perfect season with excellent win
The Christian Learning boys varsity basketball team completed its undefeated season with a smashing 65-23 win over International that will go far to preserve the team's place in League history.
The Eagles posted their highest point total of the year, and missed by one point matching their biggest victory margin of the year. Moreover they did it against a determined and talented International team that came into the game shooting for the stars.
The high energy fumes that the Griffins had apparently been inhaling only lasted through the first quarter, however. At the end of it the Eagles led by only a single point, 9-8, and the large contingent of Christian Learning fans on hand in the packed gym had to be feeling a little jittery.
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OVER THE TOP -- Freshman Andre Larsen (14) gets off a shot over a determined (but shorter) Griffin.
Jonatan Muñoz, International
But then the floodgates opened, and by halftime the Eagles led 28-10. By the end of the third quarter it was 42-18.
And then the Christian Learning team brought in the heavy artillery. In the final quarter they outscored International 23-5.
Danny Canaviri tallied 28 poibnts, the highest total for an individual in a boys game at least in the last two years. Paul Estes was similarly unstoppable, and finished with 16 points, most of them meduim-range bombs that swished silently through the basket without disturbing the rim in the slightest.
Jeff Stabler, never a gifted shooter, picked up nine points, mainly on bruising inside rebounds. Dirty work on a basketball team that someone has to do.
Tim Zimmerman gathered seven points, gathering his rosebudswhere he might. Anytime there was a shot no one else wanted, they flipped it to Tim, who made it.
Andre Larsen got three points, less than usyal pèrhaps, but they seemed to fit in seamlessly, and Josh Mojica was credited with two points.
The Eagles did not stop International star David Huang, who got 13 points, more or less exactly his season average. But you could tell he would have liked more, and often nearly got them with his convoluted drives, contortuinistic releases, and remarkable outside shots. One could tell that he was a little over-adrenalined for the game when he uncharacteristically missed several foul shots early in the game. Later he recalibrated his sights and started sinking them without benefit of the rim, as is his custom.
Christian Learning was able to more or less shut down Huang's accomplices. Mario Rohrman, Huang's normal partner in crime, got only two points, way below his average. Nicolas "Yeyo" Bedoya, the League's high jump record holder, got only two. Once he went up high with a lay-up, as he might naturally have thought hge was entitled to to, and got stuffed by an Eagle defender, very possibly by second place high jumper Danny Canaviri.
International did get six points from Jan Ivo Sochtig, not normally a big part of their offensive game plan, but that was not enough to fundamentally alter the power relationships between the two teams.
THAT'S WHY IT'S A 'LOVING CUP' -- Eagles embrace their championship trophy.
Jonatan Muñoz, International
