El Camino Races Past L.A. City College for 2nd Playoff Upset

There’s a big sign inside the L.A. City College gym that says “welcome to speed city.” The logo is appropriate considering that the Cubbies lead the state with 104 points a game.

But in Wednesday’s second-round playoff game, speed was not enough to defeat a determined El Camino team, which slipped away with a 97-90 victory.

L.A. City Coach Reggie Morris would not comment about the physical game, which saw three of his players ejected after an altercation.

For the second time in a row, El Camino beat a higher-ranked team on the road. Now the Warriors advance to the regional bracket finals Saturday against Cypress.

The 23rd-seeded Warriors (22-10) beat 10th-seeded Santa Monica on Saturday before defeating seventh-seeded L.A. City (23-9), the winner of the Southern California Athletic Conference.

El Camino Coach Ron McClurkin said it was the best game he’s ever been involved with. “It had everything. The guys were intense and we played all out. I’m glad we’re 23rd!”

Four El Camino players scored in double figures. Sophomore forward David Keeter led the pack with 23 points, and Steve Leary had 17. Guards Larry Lockley and Frank Beatty had 12 and 13 respectively.

The Warriors came out a bit slow, falling behind in the opening minutes. But they led 18-17 after a Steven Leary dunk with 11:13 left in the half.

The Cubbies regained the lead with a six-point run that included two slam dunks by sophomore forward Marcus Nash and a one-handed jam by freshman guard Charlo Davis.

The Warriors then padded L.A. City’s lead by committing three turnovers in the last minute of the half. The Cubbies scored six unanswered points that gave them a 49-42 halftime edge.

But the Warriors went on a 10-point run early in the second half that put them up 61-56 with 12:49 left to play.

L.A. City tied the game at 74 thanks to five Chris Small points. The sophomore guard made a 15-footer and less than a minute later sank a rainbow three-pointer.

Then the Cubbies got out of control. With 5:24 remaining, three of their players--two of them starters--were ejected after an altercation under El Camino’s basket.

L.A. City got slapped with five technical fouls. Allen Caveness made one of his two free throws and freshman Michael Houck sank his four, giving the Warriors an 82-74 lead.

The Cubbies never caught up. El Camino applied a fierce full-court press that prevented L.A. City from driving the ball up court.

Small led L.A. City with a game-high 27 points.