GAME OF THE WEEK : Verbum Dei Steamrolls Notre Dame, 96-78

Verbum Dei starting guard Jamal Cobbs was suited up and ready to go Friday night.

His services, however, were not needed Friday night as the Eagles rolled to a 96-78 victory over visiting Notre Dame of Riverside in a Southern Section IV-A Division first-round game at Salesian High.

Cobbs sprained his left wrist in practice Wednesday and was heavily taped at the game.

He is questionable for the Verbum Dei’s quarterfinal matchup Friday night against Alpha League champion Village Christian, a 65-63 first-round winner over Whittier Christian.

“We were worried at first, but we knew we had a lot of depth,” Stafford said. “We knew we could score if we played our style of game.”

Point production, though, was never a problem as the fourth-seeded Eagles surpassed the 80-point mark for the 11th time.

“Jamal was here, but his wrist is still hurting,” said senior forward Lamont Solomon, who is averaging 14 points a game. “He does a lot of things for us other than scoring, but we wanted to give him time to rest. We didn’t want to use him if we didn’t have to.”

Andre Miller made eight of 12 shots from the field for a team-high 22 points for Verbum Dei. Lamont Solomon and Alton Stafford added 20 and 19 points to place five Eagle players in double figures.

Tony Brown and Dione Jackson also contributed 15 and 13 points each for the Santa Fe League champion Eagles.

Verbum Dei (20-5), seeking its first Southern Section championship in 14 seasons, has won five in a row and 12 of its last 13 games. Notre Dame, the third-place entrant from the Sunkist League, finished at 12-11.

The Eagles led 46-41 at halftime and broke the game open early in the third quarter.

Verbum Dei held the Titans without a field goal for more than two minutes at the start of the second half to open a 59-42 lead.

The Eagles scored the first eight points in the first 1:41 of the second half. Solomon made a short jump shot and Brown scored on a breakaway layup.

Stafford and Miller made consecutive three-point baskets to give Verbum Dei a 56-41 advantage before the Titans scored their first points of the second half on a free throw by Mike McCurty with 5:49 remaining in the third quarter.

“We just needed a while to get going and generate points,” Solomon said.

The Titans closed to 61-48, but Miller followed a missed shot and scored on a layup as the Eagles scored eight of the next nine points to increase their lead to 69-49 with about three minutes left in the third quarter.

Stafford converted a three-point play to propel Verbum Dei to its biggest lead, 88-66, with 1:56 left.

John Quintos finished with a game-high 33 points and Steve Smith added 25 for Notre Dame (12-11).

Quintos, a 5-10 senior, made five three-point baskets and had 22 first-half points to keep the Titans in contention in the first half.

Verbum Dei trailed, 33-30, midway through the second quarter before taking 44-36 lead on a basket by Soloman with 1:32 left before halftime.

NOTRE DAME--Quintos 33, Smith 25, McCurty 11, Ramasar 7, Lauro 2.

VERBUM DEI--Miller 22, Solomon 20, Stafford 19, Jackson 15, Brown 15, Williams 5.