Ben Baker slices through the Cabrillo D on his way to two of his game-high 28 points
Posted: Jan 30, 2020
Behind Ben Baker's electrifying 28-point night, the West Valley basketball team grabbed a share of the Coast-South lead with a 79-68 win over visiting Cabrillo Wednesday.
Baker missed his first four shots before seemingly single-handedly scorching the Seahawks with 22 second half points.
The teams started out trading baskets until Sufyan Elkannan canned five straight points in the last three minutes and the Vikings held Cabrillo scoreless for the final 4:15 of the opening half. A 32-26 WVC halftime lead expanded quickly behind Baker's seismic second half.
The second half opened with three straight points from Baker, but the Seahawks (12-10, 4-2 Coast-South) would counter with four from Myron Dews.
It was all Baker, with a little help from his friends, from there. He ran off seven straight WVC points from 15:25 to 14:04 to give the Vikings (13-8, 4-2) a 47-33 advantage. Adam Afifi came alive with five points of his own to lift West Valley to a 65-45 lead with 7:30 left.
A pair of free throws from Leland Estacio at the 1:15 mark made it 77-64 and single charity shots from Elkannan and Baker sealed it.
Afifi and Elkannan joined Baker in double figures with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Estacio finished with nine. Jonel Aponte led the Seahawks with 14, while Dews, Brandon Harmon, Gabe Mack and Brandon Monestime had 10 each for Cabrillo.
The win moved the Vikings into a three-way tie with Cabrillo and Monterey Peninsula (8-14, 4-2) atop the Coast-South standings heading into to Friday's key contest at Gavilan (8-14, 3-3). Tipoff is 5:00pm.