FULLERTON TOURNAMENT : Western Is Still Awaiting a Test After Blowing Past Fullerton
A 23-point victory Friday night in the third-place game of the Fullerton Holiday Tournament wasn’t enough to satisfy Western Coach Greg Hoffman.
Hoffman had hoped to see his team playing in the championship game, but had to settle for an 83-60 victory over host Fullerton in a preliminary to Cerritos’ 68-52 victory over La Mirada in title game.
Western’s margin of victory might appear impressive, but Hoffman is still eager to see his team defeat a top-caliber club before Western enters Orange League play in two weeks.
“I would have liked this to have been in the championship game,” Hoffman said. “Once again, we played an undermanned opponent and looked good. All of our wins have come against losing teams. Just once, I’d like to see us look good against a good team.”
Western (6-2) has lost twice in semifinal games of holiday tournaments. First, there was an 89-85 overtime loss to unbeaten Loara in the Garden Grove tournament. Then, there was a 70-61 loss to Cerritos Thursday night.
Fullerton (1-8) could hardly be classified as a good team. Western opened a 13-2 lead after Tom Barraza made two consecutive shots late in the first quarter, and had a 25-5 advantage after teammate Sam Sabbara made two consecutive baskets in the second quarter.
Only a bench-clearing fight between Fullerton’s Chris Rubal and Western’s Ed Serrano kept the fans interested in the lopsided game.
Rubal stole a pass at midcourt and went up for a layup with six seconds remaining in the half. Serrano raced up court and came down hard on Rubal just as Rubal released his shot. Rubal came up swinging and continued to stalk Serrano after teammates had separated the two.
Officials restored order, but Rubal made one final attempt to get at Serrano before he was ejected.
It didn’t matter, as Fullerton trailed at halftime, 47-27.
Sabbara, looking more and more as though he’s the best point guard in Orange County, scored 23 points and added nine assists and nine rebounds. Barraza and Robbie Shelton each added 18 points.
Guard Rene Arias led Fullerton with 17 points, but he continued his shooting slump by making five of 21 shots.
In the consolation championship:
Sonora 47, Chilliwack 42 (OT)--Sonora made three free throws and added a 10-foot jump shot by Samuel Chi in the final 20 seconds of overtime to defeat the Canadian team.
Sonora forward Greg Farlow sent the game into overtime when he scored on a driving bank shot with 15 seconds remaining to tie the score, 40-40. Farlow led Sonora (4-4) with 14 points.
In the seventh-place game:
Garden Grove 65, Los Amigos 55--Mark Perry had 15 points and Bob Ioga had 13 to lead Garden Grove. Los Amigos was led by Andre Roberson with 19 points.