THE PREPS : Boys’ Basketball Roundup : Ly’s Long-Distance Attack Helps Tustin Shoot Down Foothill, 60-42

Just in case anybody ever thought Tustin High School’s senior shooting guard Cheavly Ly was shy about casting off from long range, Ly buried those doubts Friday night, along with 4 3-point shots.

In the early minutes of Tustin’s season opener against Foothill, Ly sank a pair of back-to-back 3-pointers. Then, after sitting out the second period with foul trouble, Ly opened the second half with another 3-pointer to give Tustin a 10-point lead.

Ly’s 25 points paced Tustin to a 60-42 rout of Foothill in front of a capacity crowd at Tustin.

One half of the gym belonged to Foothill’s fans, the loudest of whom call themselves “Reamer’s Screamers” in honor of Knight Coach Jim Reames. But they had fallen silent by the fourth period.

Tustin’s faithful had plenty to yell about, however. The Tillers hit 6 3-pointers (Ly had 4 and Dylan Steiler and David Beilstein each added 1) and dominated inside the key. Steiler, a 6-foot 3-inch forward, had 15 points and center Greg Lancaster, also 6-3, scored 4 points with 11 rebounds.

Lancaster also put a blanket over Foothill’s hulking 6-7 center, Jamaal Duff. Duff was held scoreless in the first half and finished with only 7 points. Todd Henrotin led Foothill with 16 points.

“(Lancaster) didn’t let their big guy catch the ball in the spots that he wanted,” said Tustin Coach Tom McCluskey, whose team has won 4 of the past 5 meetings between the teams since Tustin left the Century League for the Sea View League in 1986.

McCluskey also praised his team’s outside shooting, especially that of Ly. “We’ve gotta count on our outside guys,” he said. “Our tallest guy is only 6-3.”

Foothill had pulled to within 8 points midway through the third period. But the Tillers put the game away in the next 8 minutes when Ly ignited a 10-point run with a steal and bank shot, then capped the spurt with an acrobatic left-handed layup.