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Boys’ basketball: De La Salle routs Dominguez

Los Angeles Times staff writer Ben Bolch
By Ben Bolch
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As wake-up calls go, this one wasn’t subtle.

Think of a jackhammer. Or a 747 on takeoff.

Concord De La Salle routed Compton Dominguez, 64-38, in the Nike Extravaganza with stellar defense and a precision offense, taking a 14-point halftime lead that ballooned to as many as 26 points in the second half.

‘It’s a little bit of a wake-up call,’ said Dons Coach Duane Cooper, whose team made only three of 19 three-point attempts. ‘But we have to learn from this and keep going.’

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The teams could conceivably meet in the Division I state title game, but to get there Dominguez will have to play much better. Keala King had 13 points but made only six of 16 shots for the Dons (20-5), ranked No. 3 in the Southland by The Times.

Senior guard Brandon Smith had 10 points and 11 rebounds for De La Salle (21-1).

--Ben Bolch

Varsity Times Insider
Ben Bolch

Ben Bolch has been a Los Angeles Times staff writer since 1999. He is serving his second stint as the UCLA beat writer, which seems fitting since he has covered almost every sports beat except hockey and horse racing. Bolch is also the author of the recently released book “100 Things UCLA Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die.” He previously covered UCLA basketball from 2010-11 before going on to cover the NBA and the Clippers for five years. He happily traded in gobs of hotel points and airline miles to return to cover UCLA basketball and football in the summer of 2016. Bolch was once selected by NBA TV’s “The Starters” as the “Worst of the Week” after questioning their celebrity journalism-style questions at an NBA All-Star game and considers it one of his finer moments.

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