Quicker El Dorado Beats Bigger Fullerton

El Dorado High School utilized its superior quickness to overcome Fullerton’s height advantage and earned a berth in the championship game of the 20th Garden Grove Tournament for the second consecutive year with a 72-64 victory Thursday night.

The Hawks will meet tournament host Garden Grove tonight for the championship. It will mark the second straight year the teams have played for the tournament title.

Forward Jim Sammon scored 24 points and guard Dan Bailey added 21 as the Hawks went wire-to-wire for their second win of the season. Fullerton dropped to 1-1 and lost to the Hawks in the second round of the tournament for the second year in a row.

El Dorado opened a 26-16 lead with 7:07 left in the first half following two free throws by reserve Barry Dahman. The Hawks made 13 of 16 free throws in the half and held a 37-32 lead at halftime.

Fullerton, with two starters standing at 6-foot 6-inches in the starting lineup, stayed close to the Hawks throughout the game before faltering in the final quarter. Bailey opened the fourth quarter with an off-balance jump shot for a 55-45 lead and then gave the Hawks an 11-point lead with 6:16 remaining with another long jump shot.

Fullerton shot 62% from the field, but the Indians committed 24 turnovers and were beaten on the offensive boards whenever they got close to El Dorado. Guards Mike Hetland, Greg Wilber and Kirk Lentz all displayed nice shooting touches, but the Indians’ frontline had trouble dealing with the smaller Hawks.

“I wasn’t sure how this game would go,” said Terry Conley, El Dorado coach. “I thought the pressure of our man-to-man defense bothered them. We also did a good job of putting the clamper on (Ralph) Tallant.”

Tallant, considered the best player on the Fullerton roster, was limited to 10 points and fouled out early in the fourth quarter. Wilber paced the Indians with 14 points. Despite the loss, Fullerton Coach Randy Forgette forsees a good season for his team.

“I feel good about these kids,” Forgette said. “I would be disappointed if we didn’t finish in the top three in the Freeway League.”

EL DORADO (72)--Sammon 24, Hanna 13, Krapf 4, Bailey 21, Glade 2, Dahman 4, Page 2.

FULLERTON (64)--Zerga 11, Tallant 10, Perez 10, Hetland 7, Wilber 14, Lentz 8, Massey 4.