COLLEGE BASKETBALL PASADENA TOURNAMENT : Rio Hondo Checks Wilson, Checkmates Moorpark, 83-70

Al Nordquist likened Rio Hondo College’s second-half defense in the consolation championship of the Pasadena basketball tournament Saturday night to a chess game.

“They gave up three pawns for a queen,” the Moorpark coach said.

The strategy spelled checkmate as Rio Hondo posted an 83-70 victory.

Ventura played Rancho Santiago for the championship late Saturday night.

Moorpark (4-11) led by as many as 12 points in the first half and settled for a 40-33 halftime advantage after shooting 72% from the field in the first 20 minutes.

But Rio Hondo (8-4) opened the second half with a 14-2 run to take a 47-42 lead with less than six minutes gone, then continued to build its margin. Moorpark, meanwhile, struggled offensively and hit just 39% of its second-half shots.

Moorpark’s Damian Wilson, the chess piece Nordquist referred to, was hounded by two and three Rio Hondo “pawns” each time he touched the ball in the second half but still finished with a team-high 27 points and 10 rebounds.

Wilson made only four of 12 shots in the second half. “The big thing was they took Damian out of the game with their pressure defense and wouldn’t let him get into the offense,” Nordquist said. “They just beat the guy to a pulp.”

Nordquist used all of his timeouts in a futile attempt to slow Rio Hondo’s momentum.

With the Raiders, trailing, 66-56, with six minutes to play, Moorpark finally was reduced to fouling, but Rio Hondo converted 15 of 20 free throws during that span.

The Roadrunners’ only basket in the final six minutes came on Torrey Harvey’s dunk with five seconds to play.

Rio Hondo’s Bernard Walker led all scorers with 29 points and also had 14 rebounds. Leonard Aguilar added 16 points.

Jimmy Galbert had 15 points for Moorpark.