Preps ROUNDUP : Burbank Increases Its Lead to 2 Games

Burbank High School’s basketball team put itself in great shape to win the Foothill League championship Tuesday night.

The Bulldogs, led by Gary Lotka’s 21 points, defeated host Schurr, 59-57, to take a two-game lead over the Spartans and Hart with three league games to play. Coach Russ Keith’s team is 7-0 in league, 16-3 overall.

Burbank led by seven points with four minutes remaining when Schurr center Kevin Kurz went on a rampage. The 6-4 senior, who finished with 28 points, scored five of the next seven points. He hit two free throws with 3:10 remaining to tie the game at 49.

The game was tied two more times before Burbank’s Tom Clansen made two free throws with seven seconds left. Schurr rushed down the floor for a last-second shot but Armando Leyva missed a 10-footer.

“I would’ve liked the shot to go to Todd (Inatomi) or to Kevin,” Schurr Coach Tommy Thompson said after his team dropped to 5-2 in league and 15-6 overall. Both of the Spartans’ losses in league have come to Burbank.

Keith was pleased with the play of Orlando Cepeda Jr., a 6-2 junior forward who hit four straight jumpers in the fourth quarter and finished with 15 points.

“Cepeda got going in the second half,” Keith said. “We really needed the momentum from those shots.”

Inatomi was held to 10 points, seven below his season average.

Faith Baptist 64, Buckley 52

Faith Baptist center Gerald Thomas scored 19 points, had 12 rebounds, made 5 steals and blocked 6 Buckley shots to help the Contenders hand the visiting Griffens only their fourth defeat of the season.

Junior Kevin Burton blocked three shots and added 17 points for the Contenders, who took 49-28 advantage after three quarters and coasted the rest of the way en route to their fifth victory in six Delphic League games.

Steve Kadenacy scored a team-high 12 points for Buckley, which dropped to 4-2 in league play and 16-4 overall.

St. Vincent’s 53, Oakwood 51

Josh Feder scored 33 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to help St. Vincent’s High even its Liberty League record at 4-4.

Feder, who now has three games of more than 30 points this season, raised his scoring average to 23.6, while teammate Ron Hahamy contributed 12 points to the Spartans’ eighth victory in 17 games.

Led by Robert Heuirre, who scored a team-high 21 points, Oakwood cut its 23-16 halftime deficit to 38-37 going into the fourth quarter. But the Gorillas constantly were denied throughout the final eight minutes and fell to 7-9 overall and 4-4 in league competition.

Flintridge 42, Pacific Christian 38

Forwards Brad Trentham and Jeff Crawford scored 13 points apiece to spearhead Flintridge Prep’s homecourt victory.

Trentham also pulled down nine rebounds for the Rebels, who trailed the Panthers 20-17 at halftime and outscored the visitors 16-10 in the pivotal third quarter.

Point guard Eric Arreola led the Pacific Christian attack in the first half with 10 points, but the Rebel’s full-court press in the second half held the freshman to just two more. Karl Swartz added 10 points for Pacific Christian.

Hart 42, Alhambra 40

Kevin Honaker sank a pair of free throws with four seconds remaining to snap a 40-40 tie and offset a 23-point effort by Alhambra forward Danny Grieho.

Honaker and Greg Spencer each finished with 11 points and Eric Arnold made three key steals in the fourth quarter to spark the Indians, who led 27-21 at halftime.

Hart is now 5-2 in Foothill League play and 14-6 overall, while Alhambra’s league mark dropped to 1-6.

Burroughs 102, San Gabriel 48

Seniors Mickey Diaz and Robbie Scott combined for half of Burroughs’ points to keep San Gabriel winless in seven Foothill League games.

Diaz, a guard, had 26 points to lead all scorers as Burroughs took a 47-17 lead at halftime and kept pouring it on throughout the final two periods.

The Matadors, who were led by Andrew Bojarski’s 14 points, fell to 5-14 overall. Burroughs improved its league record to 3-4 and its overall mark to 10-11.

Saugus 69, Canyon 68

Saugus blew a five-point lead with a minute left in regulation, but got four clutch free throws from Mike Harand in the overtime period to escape with the victory.

Harand, who sealed the win with a pair of foul shots with 16 seconds left in the extra session, finished with 19 points to compliment teammate George Aliano’s 27 points.

Chris Botkin, who led Canyon with 27 points, helped force regulation with eight fourth-quarter points as the teams ended regulation tied 62-62.

Canyon, which held a 32-29 halftime lead, fell to 15-7 overall and 5-2 in the Golden League. Saugus is now 3-4 in league play and 10-12 overall.

Calabasas 71, Santa Paula 61

Jim Fagelson, with 22 points, was one of four Calabasas players in double figures as the Coyotes extended Santa Paula’s Frontier League winless streak to five.

Jon Perlstein had 14 points, and Dean Rasmussen and Steve Ward collected 12 apiece for Calabassas, which led, 36-23, at halftime and rode their fast break in the second half to their 10th victory of the season, against eight losses. The Coyotes are 2-3 in the league.

The Cardinals’ leading scorer was Santos Marquez, with a game-high 24 points.

Cov. Faith 45, WS Christian 42

Brian Sigmond hit two free throws with 12 seconds left to lift Covenant Faith High to an upset victory over West Simi Christian in a Christian School’s Athletics Conference game.

The Eagles were outscored, 30-24, in the second half after leading, 18-15, at halftime. Ray Hesser led the Conquerors attack with a game-high 20 points while Taylor Kersten, the conference’s leading scorer, was held to his average of 17 points.

The third quarter proved to be West Simi Christian’s downfall as Covenant Faith outscored them, 16-12, in the period to go up, 31-30, going into the fourth quarter.

Montclair 66, Marshall Fund. 33

Montclair Prep jumped out to a 17-4 first-quarter lead over Marshall Fundamental as 6-8 center Todd Bowser led the Mounties’ attack with a game-high 20 points and 14 rebounds.

The win improved Montclair Prep’s Alpha League record to 10-1 and keeps the Mounties in first place. The Eagles dropped to 7-4 in league and 17-4 overall.

Montclair Prep extended its lead to 32-15 at halftime, then outscored Marshall, 26-8, in the third quarter to go up, 58-23.

John Quick added 15 points and 4 steals for the Mounties, while Greg Patterson contributed 12 points, 5 steals and 7 assists.

Cal Prep 75, First Lutheran 24

Guards Jake Devane and David Casey each outscored the entire First Lutheran team, combining for 55 points and helping the Knights tie Windward for the lead in the Liberty League with a 6-1 record.

Devane scored 29 points and added 10 assists and Casey added 26 points for the Knights, who will play Thursday afternoon at Windward for the league title.

The First Lutheran team, which suited up only five players, were out of it early, trailing 24-5 after the first eight minutes. John Nasak was the leading scorer with 13 points.

Temple 78, Cal Chr. School 29

Jeff Boehm scored 26 points and Mark Bauer added 20 to help extend Temple’s Heritage League record to 11-0.

Temple led 51-14 at halftime and 66-16 after three quarters. They coasted through the fourth and Cal Christian outscored them 13-12 in the final eight minutes.

Anthony Herrell scored nine points to lead the Cal Christian offense.

J. Jenkins 65, WV Christian 44

The John Jenkins basketball team took advantage of 21 West Valley Christian turnovers en route to their victory at Hillcrest Christian.

The Jaguars, now 3-2 in the Christian Schools Athletic Conference, led 27-26 at halftime and put the game out of reach with a 21-5 third quarter.