Jimenez, state’s leading scorer, puts up 61

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Elizabeth Learning Center dressed only five players for Saturday’s boys’ basketball game against Firebaugh, so Eric Jimenez took it upon himself to shoulder most of the scoring load. He did that and then some.

The 5-foot-8 senior guard poured in a school-record 61 points in the Bulldogs’ 85-83 loss in the 11th-place game of the Cantwell Sacred Heart tournament, shattering the previous mark of 52 set by Luis Garcia in 1997. Jimenez is the state scoring leader, according to Maxpreps.com, with 435 points in 14 games -- an average of 31.1 a game. His previous high was 41 points against Central City Value in the Hollywood tournament on December 15.

‘He normally takes the most anyway but we were missing our second-leading scorer today so Eric had to shoot even more than usual,’ Elizabeth Coach David Galley said. ‘His teammates ran a lot of screens for him and he was breaking their traps a lot. He normally shoots a lot of threes but today most of his points were on layups.’

Jimenez scored a modest 21 points in the first half but exploded for 40 in the second half. The Bulldogs (3-11) trailed by nine points with two minutes left and pulled to within two but were unable to complete the comeback. Jimenez finished 22 of 25 from the free-throw line. Galley said his star player has yet to commit to a college but may end up at an NAIA or a Division III program because of his size.

Recruiters take note ... this kid could be a diamond in the rough.

-- Steve Galluzzo