Inglewood Beats Carson for Title

Although the start of the season is five months away, the Inglewood High basketball team appeared to be in midseason form Thursday night at Carson.

The Sentinels defeated Carson, 66-58, in the championship of the 16-team Carson Grand Finale.

Although it was only a summer league game, Inglewood Coach Patrick Roy was called for a technical foul after arguing a call.

“When I went at the ref, I thought I would get a technical,” Roy said. “I felt we weren’t getting the calls and if I rode the ref, it would make him and the fans aware of it. Even if I got the technical, I thought we would be able to hold (Carson) off.”

Inglewood overcame a 28-27 halftime deficit to open a 44-34 lead midway through the second half on a three-point basket by Paul Pierce.

The Colts climbed to within 49-43 before Roy was called for the technical. Tony Browder made two free throws to cut the deficit to 49-45 with six minutes left.

Three minutes earlier, Inglewood guard Jason Crowe was called for a technical for throwing the ball after disputing a call.

“It was an emotional ballgame, we were hyped up,” said Pierce, a 6-foot-5 junior center. “We couldn’t keep it in.”

Inglewood, however, managed to regain its composure long enough to put together a 7-2 run--sparked by a three-point play by Pierce--to increase its lead to 56-47 with 4 minutes, 27 seconds to play.

Pierce finished with 22 points and three blocks. He also scored the Sentinels’ first seven points of the second half. Teammates Abdul Benjamin and Sam Turks had 14 and 11 points apiece.

Turks, the Bay League’s most valuable player as a junior, also had six steals and made four consecutive free throws in the final 56 seconds to secure the victory.

Inglewood, which advanced to the semifinals of last month’s L.A. Watts Summer Games, was undefeated in five tournament games.

The Sentinels defeated Watts champion Dominguez in pool play on Wednesday and beat Fremont, 77-70, in a semifinal game earlier Thursday.

“We learned our lesson about letting up in the Watts Games,” Turks said. “We’re getting better and better and playing together as a team.”

Inglewood will have even more time to practice as a result of its championship.

The team had planned to stage fund-raising drives this summer to purchase new uniforms. The Sentinels, however, will receive a set of uniforms from a sponsoring sporting goods outlet for winning the tournament.

“This is just what we needed,” Roy said. “The uniforms we had are 6 years old and the kids have kind of outgrown them.”

Tony Browder had 22 points and Tony Harvey and Charles Perry added 13 and 10 points for Carson, which beat Peninsula, 70-52, to advance to the final of the four-day tournament.

Fremont 68, Peninsula 63--Brian Hogentogler had a game-high 23 points, but the Panthers were unable to hold on to a seven-point second-half lead in the third-place game.

Hogentogler made a three-point basket as Peninsula closed to 66-63 with 24 seconds to play. The Panthers, however, missed two three-point shots in the final 15 seconds.

Marcus Boyd added 14 points for Peninsula. Calvin Patterson and Louis Radford had 19 and 16 points apiece for Fremont.

Peninsula rallied from a 34-27 halftime deficit to take a 52-45 lead seven minutes into the second half. The Pathfinders countered with 10 consecutive points to take the lead for good, 55-54, with 6:23 to play.