THREE THE MAGIC NUMBER FOR THE LANCERS
By Brad Memberto / Sports Writer
Some teams live by the three and die by the three. The Bell Gardens Lancers lived by them and will live another day in the CIF playoffs.
Behind eight 3-pointers from Gilbert Hopkins, the Lancers defeated the Lompoc Braves 55-54 at Paisola Pavilion on Friday night in a first round game of the Division III-AA basketball playoffs.
Hopkins hit his final 3-pointer with under 10 seconds remaining to pull off the upset of Lompoc, the number two seed out of the Los Padres League.
The Braves held 6-10 J.C. Lugo to six points in the game, but were unable to rein in the bombs put up by Hopkins. Several of his baskets were from well beyond the 3-point line.
“He's not their big scorer - he averages 11 points a game,” Lompoc coach Jeff Jones said about the Lancer's big man. “But we made a superstar out of number 11.
“You have to guard him and we didn't - we chose not to guard him.”
With a large contingent of fans from Bell Gardens and the usual loud Lompoc cheering section, emotion was as high as the decibel level. The emotion of the evening was something that hurt the Braves.
“With the emotions this high it's hard to get the kids to settle down,” Jones explained. “It reminds me of Cabrillo with that type of charged atmosphere. To me it's the hardest game of the season to coach.
“It's so hard to keep your guys under control and we were just not under control tonight.”
The game started slowly as both teams felt each other out. As Bell Gardens tried to feed Lugo underneath, Trae Vernon and his teammates near the basket were able to deny the pass, then double teamed well when Lugo did receive the ball.
Meanwhile Vernon was having no trouble moving with the ball inside. He scored eight points in the first. He made a couple baskets on short jumpers and made a baby hook for another as the Braves built up an early 13-4 lead. Hopkins hit his first trey of the game late in the quarter that was followed by another Vernon basket and Lompoc led 15-7 after one.
“I thought our defense in the first quarter was okay, but we were rag tag,” said Jones. “I thought we would get better and play better, but we didn't. We went in the other direction.”
Hopkins hit two 3-pointers in a row to start the second, followed by a trey from Travon Williams and a lay-up by Luis Preciado, starting with an 11-0 run and taking an 18-15 lead.
Lompoc regained the lead with a 6-0 run of their own, before Hopkins hit another long range shot, tying the score 21-21.
With Steven Morehart scoring four and Vernon hitting another lay-up, the Braves took a 27-21 lead into half-time.
In the third, the Lancers kept coming at the Braves, but they were able to hold them off until late in the quarter. Andrew Cruz hit a driving lay-up to give Bell Gardens a 37-35, but again Vernon came back and scored three straight baskets to give Lompoc a 41-37 cushion going into the fourth.
“He was my one guy that played very well today,” Jones said about Vernon, a sophomore who has shown steady progress all season long.
Early in the final quarter Lompoc was able to extend their lead to eight, before Bell Gardens started to whittle away at the lead.
Joe Alerta made a traditional three point play to give Lompoc a 54-49 lead with just over a minute remaining, then Hopkins hit two NBA range 3-pointers to conclude the scoring.
The final score came with 17 seconds remaining, but the Braves were unable to get a good shot off.
“We played more emotional and less under control,” said Jones. “And we didn't guard number 11 - he was wide open for shots.”
Lompoc took several runs at the big guy Lugo under the basket, but he did not falter and had several blocks late in the game.
“They'd press us and we'd break the press easily and then the big guy was back there,” Jones explained. “Everybody wanted to challenge him, but then backed away from him.
“You don't back away from a big guy, all you do then is let his length come out. You've got to get into the body and we didn't do that. Then again, how do you simulate 6-10 in practice - it's very difficult to prepare for that.”
Vernon finished with 22 points and scored from all over the floor. Alerta scored seven of his 11 points in the second half.
But it is the Lancers who will move on Tuesday to face the winner of the Savanna - Temple City game.
“I loved coaching this team with all the progress they made,” Jones stated. “At the start of the year we were not very good. We became a good basketball team.
“It's a team I really thought would make a decent run in the playoffs.”
Some teams live by the three and die by the three. The Bell Gardens Lancers lived by them and will live another day in the CIF playoffs.
Behind eight 3-pointers from Gilbert Hopkins, the Lancers defeated the Lompoc Braves 55-54 at Paisola Pavilion on Friday night in a first round game of the Division III-AA basketball playoffs.
Hopkins hit his final 3-pointer with under 10 seconds remaining to pull off the upset of Lompoc, the number two seed out of the Los Padres League.
The Braves held 6-10 J.C. Lugo to six points in the game, but were unable to rein in the bombs put up by Hopkins. Several of his baskets were from well beyond the 3-point line.
“He's not their big scorer - he averages 11 points a game,” Lompoc coach Jeff Jones said about the Lancer's big man. “But we made a superstar out of number 11.
“You have to guard him and we didn't - we chose not to guard him.”
With a large contingent of fans from Bell Gardens and the usual loud Lompoc cheering section, emotion was as high as the decibel level. The emotion of the evening was something that hurt the Braves.
“With the emotions this high it's hard to get the kids to settle down,” Jones explained. “It reminds me of Cabrillo with that type of charged atmosphere. To me it's the hardest game of the season to coach.
“It's so hard to keep your guys under control and we were just not under control tonight.”
The game started slowly as both teams felt each other out. As Bell Gardens tried to feed Lugo underneath, Trae Vernon and his teammates near the basket were able to deny the pass, then double teamed well when Lugo did receive the ball.
Meanwhile Vernon was having no trouble moving with the ball inside. He scored eight points in the first. He made a couple baskets on short jumpers and made a baby hook for another as the Braves built up an early 13-4 lead. Hopkins hit his first trey of the game late in the quarter that was followed by another Vernon basket and Lompoc led 15-7 after one.
“I thought our defense in the first quarter was okay, but we were rag tag,” said Jones. “I thought we would get better and play better, but we didn't. We went in the other direction.”
Hopkins hit two 3-pointers in a row to start the second, followed by a trey from Travon Williams and a lay-up by Luis Preciado, starting with an 11-0 run and taking an 18-15 lead.
Lompoc regained the lead with a 6-0 run of their own, before Hopkins hit another long range shot, tying the score 21-21.
With Steven Morehart scoring four and Vernon hitting another lay-up, the Braves took a 27-21 lead into half-time.
In the third, the Lancers kept coming at the Braves, but they were able to hold them off until late in the quarter. Andrew Cruz hit a driving lay-up to give Bell Gardens a 37-35, but again Vernon came back and scored three straight baskets to give Lompoc a 41-37 cushion going into the fourth.
“He was my one guy that played very well today,” Jones said about Vernon, a sophomore who has shown steady progress all season long.
Early in the final quarter Lompoc was able to extend their lead to eight, before Bell Gardens started to whittle away at the lead.
Joe Alerta made a traditional three point play to give Lompoc a 54-49 lead with just over a minute remaining, then Hopkins hit two NBA range 3-pointers to conclude the scoring.
The final score came with 17 seconds remaining, but the Braves were unable to get a good shot off.
“We played more emotional and less under control,” said Jones. “And we didn't guard number 11 - he was wide open for shots.”
Lompoc took several runs at the big guy Lugo under the basket, but he did not falter and had several blocks late in the game.
“They'd press us and we'd break the press easily and then the big guy was back there,” Jones explained. “Everybody wanted to challenge him, but then backed away from him.
“You don't back away from a big guy, all you do then is let his length come out. You've got to get into the body and we didn't do that. Then again, how do you simulate 6-10 in practice - it's very difficult to prepare for that.”
Vernon finished with 22 points and scored from all over the floor. Alerta scored seven of his 11 points in the second half.
But it is the Lancers who will move on Tuesday to face the winner of the Savanna - Temple City game.
“I loved coaching this team with all the progress they made,” Jones stated. “At the start of the year we were not very good. We became a good basketball team.
“It's a team I really thought would make a decent run in the playoffs.”
No comments:
Post a Comment