Rancho Santiago Proves Too Much for Harbor, 105-86

Harbor College Coach Ken Curry is fond of saying that if you can’t get your stallion running, you’ve got to go to your mare.

It took Harbor too long to get either of its horses going Wednesday night in the second round of the Southern California community college regionals.

Terry Nelson and Eric Carpenter, Harbor’s leading scorers, started slowly and a well-balanced Rancho Santiago team, the No. 3 seed in the regionals, ran away to a 105-86 victory at Rancho Santiago’s Cook Gymnasium.

Rancho Santiago (28-3) had five players score in double figures.

“We always talk about weapons,” Curry said. “Well, they had a hell of a lot of them.”

Matthew Lien, Rancho Santiago’s 6-foot-9 center and leading scorer, picked up his second foul two minutes into the game. But the rest of the Dons, especially forward Corie Blount and guard Gene Altamirano, picked up the slack for him.

Blount scored 10 of his 17 points in the first half, mostly on soft hook shots in the key. And Altamirano bombed away from the perimeter, finishing with 19 points and three three-pointers.

“We got rid of one of their big guys but then we couldn’t defend the others,” Curry said. “And no matter who they stuck out there on the wing, they made ‘em.”

Rancho Santiago shot a blistering 61% in the first half to take a 48-32 lead. Harbor shot only 34% in the half.

By the time Nelson and Carpenter got on track, it was too late for Harbor, which finished the season 23-13.

The 6-6 Nelson, Harbor’s leader with an average of 18.3 points per game, scored 20 of his game-high 26 points in the second half.

Carpenter, a Serra High School product who entered the game averaging 16.7, finished with 19, including a trio of three-pointers in the second half.

Center Roneil Powell added 11 points for Harbor.

Lien scored 14 points for Rancho Santiago before fouling out with 2:41 left in the game. Point guard LaVern Broadnax scored 15 and forward Mike Hunter added 12 off the bench for the Dons.

Rancho Santiago will host Glendale in the third round Saturday at 7:30 p.m.