Bell-Jeff Flattens Providence With One-Two Punch

Ruben Douglas scored 39 points and Mike West added 24 for Bell-Jeff High, which earned city bragging rights with a 74-46 victory over Providence in a first-round Southern Section Division IV-A boys’ basketball playoff game Wednesday night at Bell-Jeff.

It was the first time in 15 years the two Catholic schools, located about two miles apart in Burbank, played in a varsity game.

“Not only was it a playoff game, but it was against another Catholic school too, so there was a lot at stake,” Douglas said. “We haven’t played them before, but this could develop into a rivalry.”

After Providence guard Apollo Kascinta tied the game, 22-22, with a layup midway through the second quarter, Douglas showed why he is the 10th highest scorer in state history.

The 6-foot-5 senior guard scored 10 consecutive points in a 2 1/2-minute span, sandwiching a pair of free throws between two dunks and two layups. Douglas scored 16 of the Guards’ 19 points in the quarter to give them a 36-24 lead at halftime.

“It was a close game up until that point,” Douglas said. “So I took it upon myself to get some steals, make some plays and change the momentum.”

Douglas, who averages 35 points a game, passed the 1,000-point mark for the season.

West, who had nine rebounds, scored all but one of his baskets from the lane.

“No one can compare to [West] so we try to get him the ball inside whenever possible,” Douglas said. “It’s a big man’s game.”

Providence assistant coaches Paolo Velasco, Robert Mena and Andrew Bencze were forced to take over for Athletic Director and Coach Paul Sutton, who was hospitalized Wednesday morning because of intestinal problems.

Preliminary tests indicated Sutton has a blocked colon.

“I’m sure doctors are having to hold him down right now,” Bencze said of Sutton.

“He hasn’t missed a game in 13 years.”

Kascinta scored 14 points and Dickran Tashdjian added 12 for Providence (13-10).

The third-seeded Guards (17-12) will play L.A. Baptist on Friday in the second round.