CARL’S JR. CENTURY TOURNAMENT : El Modena Can’t Slow Down St. Paul Guard in Second Half

Matt Lenzen scored 22 of his 23 points in the second half, including a stretch in which he scored 17 consecutive points, to lead St. Paul to a 62-52 victory over El Modena Saturday night in the championship game of the Carl’s Jr. Century tournament.

With 2 minutes 32 seconds left in the third quarter, Aaron Aguilera hit a short jump shot to pull the Vanguards to within three points, 38-35. After that, the game belonged to Lenzen. He scored all his team’s baskets for the next 5:32.

A key factor in Lenzen’s surge came when El Modena’s Jon Leedom picked up his fourth foul, which forced Vanguard’s coach Tim Tivenan to sit his point guard, who had been covering Lenzen.

St. Paul (9-2) jumped out to an early 14-4 lead and never lost the lead.

In the third-place game:

Buena Park 55, Savanna 51--Alex Tolentino hit two free throws with four seconds left in overtime to secure a 55-51 victory over Savanna.

In the fifth-place game:

Century 60, Brethren Christian 55--Darvin Thompson and Damien Hamler each had 12 points for Century (9-3). Chiron Hart had 16 points for Brethren Christian (8-2).

In the seventh-place game:

Cypress 80, Los Amigos 64--Vincent Laguana scored a school-record 47 points for Cypress (6-7), including eight free throws in the closing minutes to secure the victory. Mark Martell had 23 for Los Amigos.

In the consolation championship:

Santiago 63, Sonora 62--Con Nguyen had 23 points for Santiago.