SAN DIEGO PREP BASKETBALL : Boys’ Roundup : Castle Park Hangs On for 63-58 Win

Castle Park nearly ran St. Augustine out of the gym through 2 1/2 quarters of Tuesday night’s San Diego Section 2-A boys basketball playoff game. Then the Trojans almost ran out of gas, but they held on to defeat the Saints, 63-58, before an overflow crowd of more than 1,200 at Castle Park.

Castle Park led, 51-33, late in the third quarter, but the Saints cut the lead to 51-39 by the end of the period. St. Augustine got within 59-56 with 39 seconds remaining. But Antwon Lincoln iced it for the Trojans when he rebounded a missed foul shot and scored to make it 61-56.

Eddie Moreno led Castle Park with 19 points, John Stanton scored 14, Javier Nunez 12 and Lincoln 11 as the Metro-South Bay champions improved to 23-1.

St. Augustine, 13-11, was led by Charley Applegate’s game-high 21 points. Doug Carter, Tony Evenson and Joe Shandley each scored 10.

“Our guys got a little tired near the end of the third quarter,” Castle Park Coach Forest Partch said. “Then in the fourth quarter we got a little nervous. The Saints made a good run and we missed the front end of four one-and-one (free throw) situations.”

In other 2-A play:

El Camino 83, Mar Vista 55--Before the Wildcats (23-3) took the court against Mar Vista (7-23), the only playoff team with a losing record, El Camino Coach Ray Johnson was concerned about his team.

“I was worried we’d let them play with us (and) keep them in the game,” he said.

But Johnson was relaxed by the end of the first quarter after his team jumped to a 29-9 lead. Using a balanced attack, the Wildcats increased their lead to 43-17 at halftime and the county’s No. 2 team cruised from there.

El Camino had four scorers in double figures, even though Johnson used his reserves extensively in the second half.

Forward Steve Heard paced the Wildcats with 20 points and 16 rebounds. Forward Ken Crawford added 16 points, while guards Edmond Johnson and Kevin Taylor scored 14 apiece.

Mar Vista, meanwhile, had to depend entirely on its big man, Jim McCluskey. Although he was the game’s high scorer with 27 points, McCluskey was held to seven in the first half.

3-A

Poway 85, Montgomery 42--Forwards Dominick Johnson and Jud Buechler combined for 49 points and 30 rebounds as No. 1 Titans (22-3) began their 3-A title defense at Poway High. Johnson scored 30 points and had 14 rebounds. Buechler had 19 and 16 rebounds.

Poway scored the game’s first 11 points, and led by eight at the end of the first quarter, 19-11. The Titans got their fast break rolling in the second quarter, outscoring the Aztecs (13-11), 21-7, and taking a 40-18 lead at intermission.

Guards Andy Byrne and Aaron Silveyra each had 10 for Poway. Ken Thompson and Daryl Crawford each scored 12 for Montgomery.