GAME OF THE WEEK : Crenshaw Makes Short Work of Banning, 54-14

The bad news for the Banning High School basketball team was that they trailed Crenshaw by 40 points only 3:05 seconds into the second quarter.

The good news for Banning was that the game was called when Pilot Coach Marc Paez was ejected after receiving his third technical foul.

Crenshaw won the Southern Pacific game, 54-14, at Banning.

“(Paez) complained about the hard play because Crenshaw was doing a lot of hand-checking but that’s going to happen,” said six-year referee Eugene Conner. “When a coach is assessed a technical foul, he loses the opportunity to use the coaches’ box and can’t pace the sidelines. I talked to him and warned him to stay seated but he persisted.”

Federation rules state that if a coach receives three technical fouls the game is over. “In Los Angeles City Section, since there are not paid assistant coaches, when the head coach goes, the game is over,” City Section Athletic Commissioner Barbara Fiege said.

The way Crenshaw (13-2, 2-0) was playing, having the game stopped was the best thing that could have happened for Banning.

The Cougars took an early 12-1 lead while shooting 16-for-19 from the field--an uncanny 84%--in the first quarter. During one stretch, Banning went 5:04 without a field goal. Crenshaw closed out the quarter with a 20-3 run to lead 39-8.

Forward Tremaine Fowlkes, who scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds, had eight points in the first quarter.

In contrast, Banning made only five out of 15 shots in the game, going 3-for-10 in the first quarter. The Pilots were 4-for-11 (36%) from the line while Crenshaw made seven out of 10 free throws (70%).

The Pilots’ leading scorer for the season, Jason Pickett, missed both of his shots in the first quarter and went 0-for-4 in the game. Banning was paced by forward Brian Perkins who had seven points.

Crenshaw’s trio of Fowlkes, Kris Johnson (12 points) and Reggie McFerren (21 points) combined to shoot 17-for-21 (81%) from the field to score 44 of the Cougars’ 54 points.

CRENSHAW--Davis 7, McFerren 21, Davis 3, Fowlkes 11, K. Johnson 12.

BANNING--McCrimmon 6, Perkins 7, Patterson 1.

Records: Crenshaw 13-2, 2-0.