Warriors Blow Lead but Nip No. 1 Cerritos at End, 82-80

El Camino struggled to pull out a 82-80 victory Saturday against top-ranked Cerritos in probably the Warriors’ most exciting game this season.

With 19 seconds left to play and the game tied, freshman Kelvin Harris hit a turnaround jumper for the win.

“Cerritos is a great team,” said El Camino Coach Ron McClurkin. “They have a lot of desire to win, and they made our guys make lots of mistakes. They made our guys get out of what they’re supposed to do.”

The No. 14 Warriors (18-5, 3-0) held the lead for most of the physical contest, which included lots of shoving and elbowing under the bucket.

Cerritos (19-3, 0-2) had already been upset by Pasadena in its South Coast Conference opener Wednesday but hoped to beat El Camino and keep its No. 1 ranking.

And since Cerritos had beaten El Camino in double overtime at the Fullerton tournament early this season, it expected another victory Saturday.

The Warriors however, were determined to change the outcome this time despite losing the 9-point lead they held with 1:17 remaining in the game.

“They almost blew it,” McClurkin said of his players. “That’s why they’re not in there jumping up and down and celebrating, because they know they almost blew it.”

Unlike their last two games, the Warriors played an exciting first half with a fast-paced offense and an effective full-court trapping defense.

David Keeter hit a 3-pointer and Kevin Mixon sank two free throws to put the Warriors up, 28-17, with 6:47 left in the half. But Cerritos came back, cutting the lead at intermission to 34-31.

Mixon, a 6-foot-3 sophomore, led the Warriors with 23 points. Harris had 13, and Zlatco Josic and Frank Beatty 10 each.