VALLEY TOURNAMENT : Hancock Pair’s Sharpshooting Riddles Valley

Hancock College kept its guards up Thursday night against Valley and the result was a tournament championship for the Bulldogs.

Sophomore guards Ponto Colon and Charlie Lanauze, both of whom hail from Puerto Rico, combined for 57 points as Hancock defeated Valley, 107-94, to win the eight-team Valley tournament.

Lanauze scored a game-high 32 points and Colon, the most valuable player of the tournament, added 25 as Hancock, ranked sixth in the state by the JC Athletic Bureau, improved its record to 11-2.

The Bulldogs also defeated Los Angeles City College and Ventura en route to the title.

“We ran into a buzz saw,” Valley Coach Jim Stephens said.

“They were at the top of their game. They didn’t make any mistakes, and they are a good team to begin with.”

Hancock shot well throughout the game and made 13 three-point field goals en route to the victory.

Lanauze and Colon contributed eight of those three-point baskets.

When the Bulldogs weren’t hitting from the outside, forward Terry Butler was doing damage inside and scoring 18 points.

Valley (8-6), which had beaten East L. A. and Pasadena to advance to the final, once again had six players score in double figures.

Center Cliff Barnes led the Monarchs with 17 points, Andre Harrell added 16 and McArthur Wells contributed 15 off the bench.

The Monarchs, however, struggled the entire game in search of offensive consistency.

“They had us totally confused on offense,” Stephens said. “They matched up on defense and they’re very quick.”

Hancock was ahead, 59-45, at halftime and never let Valley get closer than 12 points the rest of the way.

Wells brought Valley to within, 80-68, with a three-point basket with 10:55 left to play, but Butler scored seven points over the next minute and a half to put Hancock in front, 91-75.

Lanauze and Colon scored 17 and 16 points, respectively, in the first half and kept the pressure on the Monarchs by pushing the ball up the floor.

Hancock led by as many as 16 points in the half, but it was a close game for the first 10 minutes.

Wells hit a three-point shot for Valley that brought the Monarchs to within 28-27 with 9:35 left, but all that did was signal Hancock to step up its effort.

The Bulldogs, spurred by a pair of three-point baskets by Darrell Black, went on a 10-0 run over the next three minutes to go ahead by 11.

“It’s not difficult to play at that pace when everyone is playing together,” said Colon, who was on the floor for all but 45 seconds of the contest.

Harrell, Butler and Leo Parker of Ventura joined Lanauze and Colon on the all-tournament team.

In other tournament games:

East L.A. 137, L.A. City 115--East L.A. made 19 three-point baskets en route to winning the consolation championship.

Guard Frank Cardenas led the Huskies with a game-high 40 points.

Rickey Bell scored 26 points of his 30 points in the second half for East L.A.

Thurman Watson led L.A. City with 30 points.

Ventura 109, Pasadena 70--Ventura had little problem with the Lancers in cruising to third place.

Parker led the Pirates with a game-high 28 points and Chris Hantgin scored 22--12 on four three-point baskets.