Compton Pulls Away From Marymount in Second Half

For the second time this season, Marymount College found out why Compton has the Southern California Athletic Conference’s best basketball team.

The Tartars defeated the Mariners, 97-81, in Wednesday’s conference game at Harbor College. When the teams played on Jan. 5, Compton won by 20 points.

The loss was Marymount’s fourth in a row. The Mariners are 9-16 overall and 2-6 in league play. Compton is 20-6 and 8-0.

The Tartars, ranked 10th in the state by the JC Athletic Bureau, have the state’s best scorer in guard Steve Logan (39 points a game).

“We contained them through most of the game, but we lost our composure on offense,” Marymount Coach Jim Masterson said. “We just lost it.”

Compton held a 47-45 halftime lead and a minute into the second half, Marymount freshman Julian Lawrence tied the score, 47-47, with a layup.

But the Tartars took command with a 20-6 run midway through the second half for a 80-63 lead. The last minute of the run included a three-point shot by Logan, a spectacular dunk by Leffage Caver and a three-point basket by Wun Versher. Versher, a sophomore guard, had a game-high 37 points that included nine three-point baskets.

Marymount never got closer than 10 after that. The Mariners committed several costly turnovers and their shooting got cold.

“We thought if we could stop Logan, we had a chance,” Master son said. “But Versher just shot our lights out.”

Marymount was led by Lawrence’s 25 points.