Glendale Calls In Reinforcements to Dispose of Citrus

Exactly how deep was the Glendale College bench Saturday night against Citrus?

The Vaqueros delivered a depth charge of huge proportions. We’re talking 20,000 leagues.

Eleven players scored as Glendale romped to a 90-57 win in a first-round Southern California regional basketball playoff game at Glendale.

The 11th-seeded Vaqueros (23-11) will meet defending state champion Cerritos on Wednesday at Cerritos in a second-round game. Cerritos drew a first-round bye.

The Glendale bench accounted for 31 points and 18 rebounds against Citrus (15-18) and was particularly effective in the first half when three Vaquero starters got into foul trouble.

“We got a good butt-kicking, huh?” Citrus Coach Neil Edwards said. “They’re nine deep or so. We knew that. They just have such a much better team than we do.”

Glendale’s tenacious man-to-man defense forced 28 turnovers and held Citrus to 29% accuracy from the field in the first half, 34% for the game. Citrus was without leading scorer Paris Canty, who tore knee ligaments three weeks ago.

Glendale opened a 21-10 edge nine minutes into the first half and steadily increased the margin.

The Vaqueros, shooting 47% in the first half and 44% for the game, led, 43-24, at intermission.

Tony Lopez and Enoch Mack came off the bench when starters Justin Lord and Dave Swanson each picked up two quick fouls in the first half. Lopez scored eight first-half points and finished with 10, while Mack had six points in the first half and finished with 12.

Starting forward Gary Fowler also was whistled for two early fouls and backup Kelley Crosby came in to grab seven rebounds. Glendale outrebounded Citrus, 49-31.

“I wasn’t happy about three starters picking up two fouls real quick in the first half,” Glendale Coach Brian Beauchemin said. “Fortunately, our bench did pick it up for us.”

Glendale led by as many as 33 points in the second half.

Glendale guard Bruce Heicke led all scorers with 21 points, sinking seven of 10 shots.

Swanson had 13 points and Fowler scored 11 and had six assists and 13 rebounds.

Citrus, which starts four freshmen, got 16 points from Deon Staton and 15 from Bryant Carter before he fouled out with eight minutes 35 seconds to play.

Glendale expects a tough outing against Cerritos.

“We’re going to have to really play,” Beauchemin said. “I saw Cerritos in the Golden West tournament and they played like the Lakers. . . . But we can do it.”