Grossmont Hurts Moorpark on Baseline, 101-92

A griffin is a winged monster of mythological lore that is a half-eagle, half-lion.

On Saturday night, an entire flock of Griffins swooped down on Moorpark College, quickly found the Raiders’ Achilles’ heel and destroyed Moorpark’s hopes of advancing in the Southern California regional of the men’s state junior college basketball tournament.

These Griffins come from Grossmont in El Cajon and were seeded 27th in the 32-team tournament. But led by an explosive front line, they overpowered sixth-seeded Moorpark, 101-92, to advance to the second round of the regionals.

Grossmont (15-12) will play Wednesday against Canyons in the tournament’s next round.

“We started the game without intensity and came out like we thought this game would be some kind of walkover,” Moorpark Coach Al Nordquist said. “It’s a disappointment to us. We’re rated high and they’re rated low, and we just came in and played this game like it was a joke.”

The laughing stopped after Grossmont jumped to a 9-0 lead. The Griffins didn’t take long to find Moorpark’s weakness--its front line--and quickly began to attack it.

All but nine of Grossmont’s points were scored by its forwards and centers, as they posted up Moorpark’s front-line players and scored repeatedly over them with short jump shots, layups and dunks. Center Tony James led the way, with 32 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, and forwards Jerome Price and Rafid Kiti added 26 and 23.

“The front line has been our strength all year,” Grossmont Coach Rick Wilkerson said. “We knew their weaknesses were inside, and we thought we could take advantage of that.”

The Griffins shot 66% from the field in the first half and 55% for the game, and the few times they were unable to score inside over the Raiders, they drew fouls. Moorpark center Sean Doyle and forward Jimmy Galbert both fouled out, and Grossmont sank 28 of 32 free throws.

Moorpark got its usual fine play from guards Sam Crawford and Damian Wilson. Wilson led the Raiders with 35 points, while Crawford had 28 points, 10 assists and eight steals.

“Wilson and I, we can’t say we had a bad night, but we didn’t have what else we needed,” said Crawford, who is headed to New Mexico State next season. “When I went to the basket, nobody moved. Everybody watched. They didn’t want the ball.”