Westchester easily passes test with victory over Rancho Verde

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Rancho Verde made it interesting for, oh, a quarter-and-a-half.

But Westchester had too much quickness and offensive balance for the visiting Mustangs, and the Comets went on to roll up a 76-54 victory on Monday in a Southern California Regional Division I first-round game.

What pleased Westchester Coach Ed Azzam the most was that the Comets showed no dangerous levels of rust, despite their nine-day layoff since their last game -- the City semifinals.

Unofficially, Westchester shot 25 of 49 from the floor and made 24 of 29 free throws. Most impressive, the Comets were 20 of 24 from the free throw line in the second half.

‘I thought we did a pretty good job offensively,’ Azzam said. ‘Defensively we were quicker, but we didn’t do a good job of protecting the basket at times and gave up some easy shots.

‘The defense could be better. But after a week off of not competing, sometimes you can relax too much, and I think that’s what happened.’

I doubt if Azzam or the Comets will be too relaxed against visiting Riverside King Tuesday night. Not after King routed Fremont, 82-56, on Monday.

-- Mike Terry