DIVISION II-A BOYS’ BASKETBALL : Tustin’s Delay Can’t Slow Rout by No. 1 Dominguez

Tustin High looked like the steppingstone it was meant to be Tuesday night.

Compton Dominguez, which came oh-so-close to a Southern Section title a year ago, stomped the Tillers, 70-35, in the Division II-A boys’ semifinals at Compton College. Dominguez will play Bellflower St. John Bosco on Saturday.

It’s a return engagement for the Dons (27-2), who lost to Riverside J.W. North by a point last season when Jamie Gillin missed a jumper at the buzzer.

“The way our kids looked at it, anything short of reaching the title game would have been an unsuccessful season,” Dominguez Coach Russell Otis said.

Tustin (22-8) never had a chance. The Dons, the division’s top-seeded team, were bigger, quicker and had more depth.

Oh, the Tillers took a stab at some strategy. They opened the game in a delay, trying to squeeze time off the clock. It didn’t even delay the inevitable.

After nine possessions, Tustin was zero for six from the field and had four turnovers. The Tillers didn’t even score until Doug Gottlieb made a layup with 2 minutes 24 seconds left in the quarter.

The Dons, who have won 18 consecutive games, scored the first 11 points and were ahead, 19-2, at the end of the first quarter.

“They were overwhelming . . . just overwhelming,” Tustin Coach Andy Ground said.

The Dons, who use five players 6 feet 4 or taller, outrebounded Tustin, 44-14. The Tillers have only one player taller than 6-3.

Tony Price scored 15 points and had 10 rebounds. Daryl Todd had 13 points and eight rebounds. Gillin had 11 and five.

“When a team pounds the glass like that against us, we have no chance,” Ground said.

Dominguez got the Tillers down and made sure they stayed there with a stifling defense. The Dons led, 50-14, after three quarters.

Tustin made only 13 of 58 shots. So unnerved were the Tillers, that they threw up nine airballs. Gottlieb, the Tillers’ leading scorer, had four.

Jeff Aguilar had made five three-pointers and scored 21 points in the quarterfinal victory over Pasadena Muir. He went scoreless, missing all seven of his shots.