CENTURY TOURNAMENT : With Whitlock Back in Lineup, Loara Advances

Loara High School celebrated the return of Tes Whitlock to its starting lineup with a 74-64 victory over Foothill in the quarterfinals of the Carl’s Jr. Century Tournament Thursday night at Century High School.

Whitlock, who was benched by Coach Ed Prange for Wednesday’s game against St. Paul because he missed a practice, scored 29 points, grabbed six rebounds and had five assists, to lead the Saxons (6-6) over the taller Knights (3-8). Loara advances to tonight’s semifinals against Buena Park, a 77-61 winner over Newport Harbor.

Loara took a 19-12 first-quarter lead and forced Foothill into a running, full-court, pressure game the rest of the way.

Whitlock, who committed his third foul with 1:02 left in the second quarter, rallied the Saxons twice when Foothill got close. His two driving baskets gave Loara a seven-point lead after the Knights had closed the gap to 48-45 with 2:40 left in the third quarter, and his jump shot gave the Saxons a 58-49 lead entering the fourth quarter.

Loara took a 63-49 lead with 7:20 left remaining. The Saxons were helped by center Charlie Gibson’s 14 points and 13 rebounds. Sean Amos and Nick Konopesos led the Knights with 24 and 14 points, respectively.

In other quarterfinal games:

Buena Park 77, Newport Harbor 61--Angel Barrios led the Coyotes with 26 points to offset Newport Harbor’s Huy Nguyen (31 points) and Justin McIntee (21).

El Modena 58, Century 56--Aaron Aguilera scored 18 points and Mike Terry 14 for El Modena. Terry made a jump shot with a minute left to give the Vanguards a 57-56 lead. Bob Baytosh then made a free throw with 20 seconds left to give El Modena a two-point lead. Fullerton 79, Western Christian 62--Chris Hartshorn scored 18 points and Craig Olsen 17 to lead Fullerton. David Bruce scored 27 points for Western Christian.

In consolation rounds:

Westminster 77, Calvary 29--The Lions took control of the game early and led, 32-6, at the end of the first quarter. Brady Okura scored 15 points, all on three-pointers, to lead Westminster.

St. Paul 73, Costa Mesa 60--Matt Lenzen scored 23 points and Steve Munguia 18 for St. Paul.Mike De Grazio scored 24 points for Costa Mesa.

Garden Grove 88, Southern California Christian 66--Cornell Archer scored 26 points and Mark Perry 24 to lead Garden Grove.

Cypress 64, Los Amigos 51--Courtney Smalley scored 29 points and Joe Groover 23 to lead Cypress. Tim Clark scored 20 points for Los Amigos.