BOYS’ BASKETBALL : Fremont Beats Westchester

It was not the City Section championship, but defending champions Fremont and Westchester gave a preview of things to come in their season-opening boys’ basketball game.

The Pathfinders, winners of the past two City Section 3-A Division titles, overcame a 16-point deficit to beat two-time defending 4-A Division champion Westchester, 71-70, Tuesday before a near-capacity crowd of 800 at Fremont.

“This was not the City championship, but it sure felt like one,” Westchester Coach Ed Azzam said. “We cannot survive too many more emotional games like this. We still have 30 more games to play.”

Westchester had a chance to win with four seconds left, but senior forward Jason Sanders missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw. Sanders had made 18 of 21 free throws, including his first 15 in a row, and finished with a game-high 28 points.

Tommie Davis drove the baseline and made a reverse layup for Fremont’s winning basket with 44 seconds left.

South Gate 113, San Pedro 62--The South Gate Rams served notice Tuesday night that there may be a new power in the Southeastern Conference this year.

The Rams trounced the visiting Pirates in front of their home crowd to go 1-0 on the season while handing San Pedro their second loss in as many games.

South Gate, which had five players in double figures, was led by senior Eric Wright’s 31 points. Wright’s front-court mate, Sai Tuialii, contributed 19 points.

San Pedro guard Raymond Tuft buried five three-pointers en route to a game-high 35 points. Senior Themis Lambropolous, who had 10 points, was the only other Pirate to reach double figures.

Locke 86, Carson 79--The Saints, led by the inside scoring of 6-2 forward Demetrius Nettles, won a fast-paced nonconference game at home. Nettles scored 27 points, mostly from short-range, and guard Derrick Higgins added 19, including two three-pointers.

Locke took an early first-quarter lead that extended to as many as 14 points in the second quarter. Carson closed the gap to five points, 78-73, with two minutes left, but Neetles hit two key baskets and Locke sank four free throws to ice the game.

Carson forward Chris Ramsey had 27 points, including four spectacular dunks, and Anthony Brouder had 23 points, including five of six shots from three-point range.

Lincoln 85, Verdugo Hills 80--Powered by forward Keith Whitner down the stretch, Lincoln scored the final eight points to post a come-from-behind victory over visiting Verdugo Hills in a Northern Conference game. Whitner scored six of his 20 points in the final two minutes after Verdugo Hills forward Brian De Los Reyes hit a three-pointer from the right side to give the Dons an 80-77 lead. Center Ossiola Cantrell also had 20 points for Lincoln and Ruben Castellanos added 16 off the bench. Verdugo Hills guard Eddie Powell led all scorers with 26 points.

Bell 61, Narbonne 38--Bell held Narbonne scoreless for nearly six minutes in the second half, scoring 20 consecutive points to take a 55-25 lead midway through the fourth quarter of the nonleague game at Narbonne. Mario Ceja made his first three shots and Bell made six of its first seven shots en route to a 14-5 lead in the first two minutes.

Marshall 64, Wilson 56--Paul Hunt had 21 points and Octavio Brito added 19, but Wilson fell short in a season-opening Northern Conference game at home.

Trailing 28-21 at halftime, Brian Goldberg hit a 15-footer at the third-quarter buzzer as Marshall took the lead for good, 41-38.

Monroe 78, Jordan 67--Sophomore Clem Breedlove scored a game-high 22 points, but it was not enough to prevent Jordan from losing its season-opener against Monroe at home. Forward Kenyatta Niles had 20 points and 12 rebounds for Monroe.

Eagle Rock 75, Belmont 60-- Forward Raymond Arcangel scored 24 points to help Eagle Rock win its home opener against Belmont in a Northern Conference game. Sophomore Canh Ngoc Hoang added 17 points for Eagle Rock. Senior Oliver Collado, who had 22 points, was the only Belmont player to reach double figures.

Venice 63, Roosevelt 53--Juan Pimentel and Ricardo Garcia each scored 11 points for Roosevelt, but the team fell short in a nonleague game at home. Roosevelt closed to 55-53 in the fourth quarter, but was outscored in the final five minutes.

Los Angeles 66, Gardena 61--Trailing throughout the first three quarters, Los Angeles took the lead for good with three minutes left and held on to beat host Gardena in a nonleague game. Brandon Thomas had 19 points and Carlton Codd added 14 for the Romans.

East Anchorage (Alaska) 88, Crenshaw 82--In the championship semifinals of the Great Alaska High School Classic, Mark Schweigert scored 29 points to lead Alaska State champion East Anchorage over Crenshaw Tuesday night.

Kris Johnson had 22 points and Maurice Robinson had 18 for Crenshaw.

In a first-round game, Johnson had 23 points and nine rebounds to lead Crenshaw over Homer (Alaska), 107-64, Monday night.