Horizon's Thomas Marcus (2),
here defended by Jacob Ohara,
put on a show in the first
quarter but then cooled off.
(Photos by Ed Piper, Jr.)
By Ed Piper, Jr.
Lefty guard Thomas Marcus hit five increasingly long threes in the first quarter for Horizon, but the Panthers--missing two other football players due to an all-star game going on concurrently elsewhere in the county--had no other offense, and Marcus immediately cooled off, leaving La Jolla to beat Horizon five-on-one and take home a resounding 71-36 win on the second day of the annual Grossmont Invitational Basketball Tournament Sat., Dec. 17.
Marcus, the 6-1 quarterback for the Panthers' CIF Division 5 championship football team, probably didn't get selected for the all-star contest as well because he's a junior. But he showed he's athletic, swatting a few shots at the other end of the court against the Vikings, Reed Farley-style.
Coach Paul Baranowski's bunch from La Jolla stuck with an eight-man plan, with ninth-man Francisco Ramos watching from the bench while he recuperates from hand surgery over the next three weeks. In addition to solid play by the usual suspects, Quinn Rawdin, Daniel McColl, Farley, and others, Baranowski brought reserve McClain Thiel off the bench early and junior guard Jacob Ohara saw lots of playing time as he builds his confidence and hones his backcourt skills.
Due to Marcus' almost surreal display of remote-control target practice from beyond the arc, the Panthers hung tough and trailed the Vikings only 23-17 at the end of the opening period. In the quarter, the high-flying Farley began early with a slam for the second basket, McColl scored inside, and Charlie Gal scored twice.
Rawdin hit a lefty three for a 13-6 lead before Gal turned the ball over and Horizon then scored the only basket in the quarter by someone other than the smooth Marcus. McColl drove for a bucket for a 17-8 lead.
Farley had an unusual field goal, grasping his own attempt that was lightly blocked and tapped back into his hands. He then went up again for the jump shot and hit a 12-footer, while a somewhat surly Horizon coach Tyrone Hopkins called for ups-and-downs to no avail. That made the affair 19-11.
Hopkins said before that game that his team was "a little thin", missing seniors D.J. Wilson and Jaylen Nelson at the all-star fest. "We're using some JV's," he added.
Vikings Charlie Gal (right) and
Quinn Rawdin (left) apply
pressure under the basket
in early going.
The weakness showed, as Horizon remained winless in the young season, having no one who could remotely stop the big Gal at the low post. Baranowski took him and Nick Hammel out for extended periods of time as the Vikings rapidly increased their lead in the second quarter to 39-17.
Then, after the Panthers pulled within 16 at 52-36 as late as a minute into the fourth quarter, La Jolla (8-1) unleashed its multi-pronged attack and pulled away by a whopping 35 points in the next seven minutes to close out the contest--their second win in the Grossmont tournament.
Horizon only managed two points in the final quarter, though the leaping Marcus added some flying blocks to his ledger. Horizon's fans, whiny in the first quarter, fell silent most of the rest of the game.
The Vikings next face Torrey Pines Thurs., Dec. 22, in the invitational. The Falcons feature 6-9 Jake Gilliam.
"They're good. We'll have to be disciplined," said McColl after the game. "We'll have to box out." Much of the bruising defense against the tall Gilliam will have to come from the 6-2 McColl and Gal, who measures 6-5.
Individually, McColl said he's getting the rust off after transitioning from football. "I'm feeling better. I'm making more and more layups. I felt rusty. It's coming back slowly."
No comments:
Post a Comment