East Los Angeles fights off Jaguars to advance at the State Tournament
LEMOORE - East Los Angeles and San Jose City each came into the first game of the 2023 CCCAA State Championship tournament with the same game plan, attack the basket.
In the end, it was East Los Angeles who executed the plan to perfection, giving the Huskies a 76-70 victory. The win advances East Los Angeles to the semifinals on Saturday. East Los Angeles will play the winner of the Fullerton (#1 South)-West Valley (#4 North). Game time will be announced after completion of today's play.
After taking a 37-33 halftime lead, East Los Angeles began to pull away. After a Noel Scot layup, the Huskie held a 17-point lead, 65-48, with 10:42 to play. Seven minutes later East Los Angeles' lead grown to 21 points. San Jose, however, had an answer. The Jaguars used a 22-3 run to pull within two at 72-70 with 3:09 left. San Jose missed a chance to take the lead with 22 seconds but a three-point attempt, one of 20 by San Josw, by Jerry Jackson was short. Gregory Melvin grabbed the defensive rebound and was fouled. His two free throws gave the Huskies a 74-70 lead with 19 seconds left. Scott Noel's two free throws with 9.9 seconds left sealed the win.
The fast-paced play seemed to get away from San Jose as the last half as the Jaguars committed a number of turnovers down the stretch, including a critical turnover on the inbounds play after Noel's free throws. San Jose finished with 20 turnovers, after committing nine in the first half.
When asked about East Los Angeles' plan to attack the basket, Huskies coach John Mosley said, "Yes, we always plan to start that way. We weren't familiar with the opponent or the gym."
East Los Angeles came in the tournament as one of the state's better rebounding teams, and it was evident as the Huskies limited San Jose to six offensive rebounds and three second-chance points. ELAC concluded the game with a plus-nine in rebound margin (38 to 29). Tyrell Hunt, who had eight points, grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Jordan Gill and Jerry Jackson each added seven.
The first half was a fast-paced game as both teams showed off its speed down the floor and to the basket. Each team registered 16 points in the paint. San Jose, however, struggled at times with ball control. The Jaguars' nine first-half turnovers resulted in 13 East Los Angeles points.
East Los Angeles also benefitted from a strong rebounding performance in the first half. The Huskies out rebounded San Jose, 23-14. And recorded nine offensive rebounds to San Jose's one.
ELAC used that advantage to open a nine-point lead with 13:33 remaining in the half. However, San Jose used a 27-14 advantage over the remainder of the half to get with four points at 37-33.
East Los Angeles' depth was also evident as the Huskies got 21 points from its reserves, 9 coming from Jurrien Sparks. Jacob Harper led East Los Angeles with 22 points. Teammate Gavin Wilburn added 12.
"Tyrell Hunt played really good defense on their best scorer (Gavin Wilburn)," Mosley said.
Wilburn, in 31 minutes of playing time, scored 12 points. San Jose was led by Scott and Jon Sanders who each had 15 points.
(Robert Schmidt, CCCMBCA)
