Community College Basketball : Cerritos Has Lot in Reserve to Beat Golden West

Steve Fendry came off the bench Wednesday night to score 23 points, including 17 in the second half, to lead Cerritos College to a 97-90 victory over Golden West in a South Coast Conference men’s basketball game at Golden West.

Fendry, a freshman forward from Warren High School in Downey, was 9 of 14 from the field, including a three-point basket, and had a game-high 11 rebounds.

The score was tied 14 times, including 10 times in the second half, before Fendry scored 11 consecutive points and Cerritos took a 75-68 lead with 7:19 left.

With the victory, Cerritos (18-8, 7-2) remains in a first-place tie with El Camino. El Camino defeated Compton, 71-68 in overtime Wednesday.

Golden West rallied late in the second half, cutting Cerritos’ lead to 91-88 on a three-point basket by freshman forward Markus Muller-Stach with 56 seconds left.

Anthony Howard was called for a foul trying to make a steal. Jim Taylor made two free throws to give Cerritos a 93-88 lead. Golden West then had a turnover, and Taylor made two more free throws to clinch the victory with 26 seconds left.

Milt Robinson scored 19, Vern Johnson 16 and Taylor and Chris Naulls 14 each for Cerritos. Muller-Stach scored 20, Doug Rice 18 and Elbert Davis 17 for Golden West (13-12, 3-6).

In another South Coast Conference game:

Fullerton 86, Pasadena 63--Troy Joseph scored a career-high 33 points to lead Fullerton (16-9, 6-3) at Pasadena. Joseph, a sophomore forward, was 13 of 23 from the field and 7 of 10 from the field. Fullerton, which didn’t score in the first six minutes and trailed, 12-0, cut Pasadena’s lead to 39-36 at halftime.

Darrin Queen scored 14 for Fullerton, which is in second-place in the conference. Erik Cooper had 16 points for Pasadena (15-9, 3-6).

In a nonconference game:

Cypress 91, Claremont-Mudd JV 58--John Jackson was 5 of 5 from the field and had a team-high 13 points for host Cypress (23-5). Jim Sammon and Jeff Given each added 11 and Charles Caldwell 10 for Cypress, which is ranked fourth in the state.

In South Coast Conference women’s play:

Golden West 80, Cerritos 66--Sophomore guard Jeannine Battaglia scored a game-high 25 points to lead Golden West at Cerritos. It was the 24th consecutive victory for Golden West (25-1, 9-0), which is the state’s top-ranked team.