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Wildcats take down state's seventh-ranked team
Facing the state’s seventh-ranked team in the first round of the state playoffs at home Monday night, El Camino rose to the challenge. The Wildcats outplayed Etiwanda down the stretch and hung on for a 63-60 win.
“Anytime we win a game in the state playoffs against a quality team like that it says something about San Diego basketball,” said El Camino head coach Ray Johnson. “It makes a statement that we can play here. They disrespected us by putting us where we were.”
El Camino (30-3) outlasted an Etiwanda team that was bigger and more athletic. The Wildcats simply showed more desire and made enough tough shots to down the Eagles (25-6).
“We’re nothing to step on,” said El Camino center Luke Evans. “We can play basketball down here too.”
Evans scored a game-high 18 points – 12 of which came in the second half. Evans also held Etiwanda’s USF-bound center Perris Blackwell to only four points after halftime.
“I’d never seen him play before – I didn’t know anything about him,” Evans said about Blackwell. “So I just came out and played my game and played hard. I’ve played against big guys like that before.”
Evans led a balanced El Camino attack. Wildcats’ guards Alan Cox scored 16 points and Steven Aldridge had 14.
“Everybody played well,” Johnson said. “Everybody did what they had to do.”
Unlike in their section finals win over Torrey Pines on Saturday, El Camino got off to a slow start Monday night. Johnson burned two early timeouts as the Wildcats fell behind 12-2 in the opening five minutes.
“It wasn’t much of a concern,” Evans said. “We never like coming out slow, but basketball is four quarters – you have to play all four.”
El Camino responded with a 12-2 run to close the first quarter and had a three-point lead at halftime. Etiwanda came out strong after the break and the Wildcats trailed by four headed into the fourth.
With 4:28 left in the game, El Camino went ahead 53-51 on a three-point play by Steven Aldridge. The Wildcats had a seven-point lead with 3:12 left when Etiwanda made their final push.
The Eagles had two chances to tie the game in the final 30 seconds. Down two with nine seconds left, Evans played tight defense on Etiwanda forward Christian Katuala in the paint and forced a travel. After Evans sunk one of two free throws, Etiwanda brought the ball down but had to force a three-pointer that fell short.
With the win, the Wildcats advance to play second-seed Westchester (31-2) in Los Angeles tomorrow night at 7 p.m. It will be El Camino’s third game in four days.
“It’s back-to-back-to-back pretty much,” Evans said. “But you just have come back and play hard. When you get to this point every team is good so you just have to play as hard as you can and leave it all on the court.”
El Camino center Luke Evans shoots a jumper over Etiwanda center Perris Blackwell
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JIsiI0iVbk
Wildcats take down state's seventh-ranked team
Facing the state’s seventh-ranked team in the first round of the state playoffs at home Monday night, El Camino rose to the challenge. The Wildcats outplayed Etiwanda down the stretch and hung on for a 63-60 win.
“Anytime we win a game in the state playoffs against a quality team like that it says something about San Diego basketball,” said El Camino head coach Ray Johnson. “It makes a statement that we can play here. They disrespected us by putting us where we were.”
El Camino (30-3) outlasted an Etiwanda team that was bigger and more athletic. The Wildcats simply showed more desire and made enough tough shots to down the Eagles (25-6).
“We’re nothing to step on,” said El Camino center Luke Evans. “We can play basketball down here too.”
Evans scored a game-high 18 points – 12 of which came in the second half. Evans also held Etiwanda’s USF-bound center Perris Blackwell to only four points after halftime.
“I’d never seen him play before – I didn’t know anything about him,” Evans said about Blackwell. “So I just came out and played my game and played hard. I’ve played against big guys like that before.”
Evans led a balanced El Camino attack. Wildcats’ guards Alan Cox scored 16 points and Steven Aldridge had 14.
“Everybody played well,” Johnson said. “Everybody did what they had to do.”
Unlike in their section finals win over Torrey Pines on Saturday, El Camino got off to a slow start Monday night. Johnson burned two early timeouts as the Wildcats fell behind 12-2 in the opening five minutes.
“It wasn’t much of a concern,” Evans said. “We never like coming out slow, but basketball is four quarters – you have to play all four.”
El Camino responded with a 12-2 run to close the first quarter and had a three-point lead at halftime. Etiwanda came out strong after the break and the Wildcats trailed by four headed into the fourth.
With 4:28 left in the game, El Camino went ahead 53-51 on a three-point play by Steven Aldridge. The Wildcats had a seven-point lead with 3:12 left when Etiwanda made their final push.
The Eagles had two chances to tie the game in the final 30 seconds. Down two with nine seconds left, Evans played tight defense on Etiwanda forward Christian Katuala in the paint and forced a travel. After Evans sunk one of two free throws, Etiwanda brought the ball down but had to force a three-pointer that fell short.
With the win, the Wildcats advance to play second-seed Westchester (31-2) in Los Angeles tomorrow night at 7 p.m. It will be El Camino’s third game in four days.
“It’s back-to-back-to-back pretty much,” Evans said. “But you just have come back and play hard. When you get to this point every team is good so you just have to play as hard as you can and leave it all on the court.”
El Camino center Luke Evans shoots a jumper over Etiwanda center Perris Blackwell