One Is Enough: Zepeda Lifts Century Over St. John Bosco

There will be games, like Monday’s against Bellflower St. John Bosco in the second round of the Century Holiday Classic, in which a big night from Mike Zepeda will be enough to carry Century.

The 6-9 Zepeda towered over the Braves and had 27 points in the Centurions’ 49-39 victory. Century moves on to the semifinals against Eastside (Wash.) Catholic.

But Coach Greg Coombs also knows the Centurions (5-7) won’t accomplish all they want this season if they don’t find another consistent scorer to complement their center.

“It’s not like we’re going to beat teams, 80-70, anyway,” Coombs said. “But we can’t be a one-man team and expect to win the [Empire] league.”

The Braves (4-8) tried to give Century a preview of what they and Zepeda will face as the season continues. Bosco threw a variety of zone defenses at Century, and whenever Zepeda got the ball inside he was immediately surrounded by three, sometimes four defenders.

The other Century players were hesitant to shoot, even when they had open shots, usually waiting to get the ball back inside to Zepeda and let him try again.

That’s one reason the game got off to a slow start. That, and the fact that both teams shot poorly. Century led, 20-15, at the half but made only five of 21 field-goal attempts. Bosco wasn’t much better, making only seven of 22 shots.

Neither team got much better. Century finished the night 13 for 35 (37%) while Bosco made 18 of its 54 shots (33%).

The difference in the half--and pretty much the game--was at the free-throw line. Century was made 10 of 13 tries in the first half, and wound up shooting 31 free throws (making 23) in the game. Zepeda was effective at the line, too; he made his first nine attempts and finished 11 for 13.

By contrast, Bosco tried two free throws in the half and six in the game. The Braves made two.

“I certainly would have liked to have shot more free throws,” said Braves Coach Matt Hart, tongue somewhat in cheek. “But that wasn’t the reason we lost. We had some good looks but were unable to make shots. And we made some stupid mistakes. But when you have a young team of sophomores and juniors, there are times you have to live with their mistakes.”