BASKETBALL AS HIGH ART -- Knight Tae Han Kook (10) and Eagle Andre Larsen (18), among others, battle for a rebound. Hamin Choi, Christian LearningLate surge carries Eagles over Knights
The (almost) packed stands at Cambridge were in an uproar as the profusely sweating players huddled. The action had been fast and furious from the opening tip, and the score had see-sawed within a narrow range as the teams exchanged brilliant plays and fans screamed encouragement. Play was intense, but there were a lot of smiles. Players and fans were having a good time. And you could cut the excitement with the knife -- a butter knife.
This was SCISL Basketball the way it 'spozed to be. No more of those games where British newspapers would describe the winning margin as "too far to matter."
And it got even better from there, especially if you were a Christian Learning fan as the relentless Eagles began to chip away at the six-point Cambridge advantage, with Eagle Danny Canaviri finally taking the ball to the hoop to tie it at 34-34, then a few moments later putting the Eagles ahead to stay with a soft short jumper 36-34.
The Knights though clearly tiring fought hard, and came close with a couple of three-pointers that might have made things really exciting, before finally succumbing 45-39. But a good time was had by all.
Cambridge had actually jumped out to a 4-0 lead at the start of the game, though things quickly tightened up and Christian Learning led 9-8 at the end of the quarter. The battle continued on close terms through the second quarter with ties at 13-13, 15-15, and 17-17 before the Knights fashioned a little three-point lead at halftime 22-19.
One factor helping Cambridge was better foul shooting. In the season opener the Knights had missed most of their foul shots -- 20 in a row at one point. In the second quarter they sank five of eight opportunities. Jose Luis Rivera and Alvaro Lopez both completed three-point plays for the Knights, tacking free throws onto field goals.
The Knights were hot in the third quarter and for a while seemed to have control of the game as they widened their lead to nine points at 32.23, before the Eagles began to tighten the game up. The third quarter ended with the score 34-28 in favor of Cambridge.
Danny Canaviri led the Eagles scoring with 16 points even though he had a bad day at the foul line, making only two of ten opportunities, low for him. He pulled in at least seven rebounds. Andre Larsen had ten points, and made good on four of his six free throws. Caleb Hoover had a strong game with six points. Andrew Burgin also had six. Paul Estes had four points and Jesse Hallock two.
Cambridge's Alvaro Lopez was the leading scorer in the game with 19 points. He was five of nine at the free throw line. Jose Luis Rivera had 12 points, including a three-pointer, and was also five of nine on foul shots. Tae Han Kook and Matias Martinez had four points each.
Cambridge had two technicals called against the team; Christian Learning had one.
Jenny Zimmerman of Christian Learning contributed to this report.
Undermanned Jaguars hold off Griffins
The Cooperative boys varsity basketball team machined out a workman-like 24-13 victory over International in their home gym Thursday afternoon.
The Jaguars were playing without Milan Marinkovic, their leading scorer, who was sidelined with tendinitis. Nicolas Suarez, another key starter, was academically ineligible.
The Jaguars 4-2 at the end of the first quarter, and 10-4 at the half. The two teams dueled evenly in the third period, with each scoring six points to make the score 16-10 at the end of the third quarter. The Jaguars then outscored the Griffins 8-3 in the fourth quarter to win the game 24-13.
Jaguar Andres Shin was the leading scorer in the game with 14 points. Oliver Lederman had six points; Josue Abuawad had four.
For International, F. Molina had six points, J. B. Velasco had four; S. Maldonado 2; and F. Matus 1.
