Chaminade Has a Ball Against Blair, 79-39

Chaminade High needed very little effort to knock off Pasadena Blair in a first-round game of the Southern Section Division III-A playoffs Friday night.

Blair, shooting a dismal 18% from the field, was its own worst enemy against the top-seeded Eagles, who received 34 points from their bench.

All 15 Chaminade players scored and the Eagles rolled over Blair, 79-39, at Chaminade High.

The Eagles will play Compton Centennial in a quarterfinal Tuesday at a neutral site to be determined by coin flip.

It wasn’t the best effort put on by The Times’ top-ranked team, but it was a respectable-looking victory for a squad that has won 21 consecutive games.

“I take comfort in the fact that we didn’t play that well, but we’re through the first round,” Chaminade Coach Jeff Young said.

The Chaminade starters, looking average at times in the first half against a much smaller Blair squad, jumped to a 13-0 lead while Blair missed its first 11 shots and turned the ball over six times.

Aaron Weaver gave Blair (10-15) its first basket with two minutes remaining in the first quarter and by then it was 15-3.

Blair made only one of 13 shots in the first quarter and four misses never touched the rim or backboard.

Chaminade (24-1) was not without its own problems, turning the ball over five times in the first quarter and allowing Blair--with just one starter 6-foot or taller--12 rebounds in the first half.

“I don’t think we played that good in the first quarter,” Young said. “We had that 11-point lead, [my team was] looking up at the [scoreboard] and they just decided to relax.”

So Young responded by yanking his starters in favor of his bench. All but two players had playing time in the first half.

Twelve of Chaminade’s 20 second-quarter points came from the reserves and it was all but over as the Eagles claimed a 42-17 halftime lead.

Paced by Scott Long’s 10 points in the third quarter, Chaminade extended its lead to 33 points on a putback by Long and later to 36 points on a short jumper by J.J. Todd, a reserve who finished with six rebounds.

The Eagles claimed a 40-point lead, 67-27, on a three-point buzzer-beater by Nick Lawson at the end of the third quarter.

Long, who was challenged at halftime by Young to step up his game, finished with 14 points and left with 3:23 left in the third quarter.

“He wanted me to pick up my defense,” Long said. “Coach Young says it all starts with defense and the defense will carry over to offense.”

Chaminade forced 28 turnovers and outrebounded Blair, 44-23.