MEN’S BASKETBALL / GLENDALE TOURNAMENT : Glendale Reaches Final, 74-60

It wasn’t pretty or remotely smooth but it took care of business and that’s what mattered most to Glendale College men’s basketball Coach Brian Beauchemin.

The Vaqueros, despite committing 20 turnovers, still had enough to defeat Harbor, 74-60, in a semifinal game of the Glendale tournament Friday night.

With the victory, Glendale (8-2) advanced to the championship game against Chaffey tonight at 7:30. The Panthers defeated Santa Barbara, 91-83, in the other semifinal.

“We haven’t played for a while,” Beauchemin said. “Maybe that was part of (the problem).”

The last game for the Vaqueros before Friday was Dec. 9 when they lost to Trade Tech, 90-88.

The layoff might have affected Glendale, but the Vaqueros still managed to basically put the game away early in the first half.

The Vaqueros took advantage of poor shooting by Harbor (3-10) to lead by as many as 21 points in the first half, even though Beauchemin thought they could have performed better.

“We were anxious,” Beauchemin said. “We didn’t make the extra pass. . . . We have to make every possession a good possession.”

Harbor Coach Gary Cain, in his first season with the team, saw it somewhat differently.

“We had a game plan to come out and control the tempo but the first five minutes we made one pass and put up the shot,” he said. “We don’t have the ability to get into a racehorse-type game (with opponents).”

Glendale opened the game with a 21-7 run behind wing Charles Garcia, who accounted for nine points in that span. Garcia, a sophomore from Eagle Rock High, scored 13 of his game-high 27 points in the half.

The Seahawks made only six of 29 shots in the half (20.7%) and failed to score during stretches of four or more minutes several times. They also committed 14 of their 23 turnovers before the half.

There were as many verbal salvos flying around the floor from both sides as shot attempts and the officials called two technical fouls on Harbor’s Terrell Moore and one on Glendale guard Maurice Sowells.

Once tempers calmed in the second half, Harbor made a run at Glendale, cutting the Vaquero lead to 61-49 with 8 minutes 41 seconds left.

But Glendale pulled away on a 9-3 run sparked by Garcia’s five points and four by guard Eric Scott, the last two on a dunk after stealing a pass and going the length of the floor.

The Seahawks hit another dry spell late in the game, scoring only two points in a six-minute span before a pair of three-point baskets by Eric Wright and Tyrone Jackman.

Scott finished with 18 points and Sowells had 13 and seven rebounds. Garcia led all rebounders with eight.

Jackman led Harbor with 20 points and Wright finished with 14. Vito Maciel added 12.