Glendale Falls in Rush to Judgment

The magic finally ran out for the overachieving Glendale College men’s basketball team.

Unable to cope with a quick and agile Mt. San Jacinto squad, the Vaqueros lost, 100-82, in a third-round game of the Southern California Regional on Saturday night at Mt. San Jacinto.

Glendale (18-14) was trying to reach the state championships for the first time since 1985, but instead the Eagles (30-6) will play in the quarterfinals at UC Irvine on Thursday, the first day of the three-day tournament pitting the four surviving teams from the south and the four from the north.

The Vaqueros, who finished tied for second place in the Western State Conference South Division with a 6-4 record, reached the third round with victories over Mt. San Antonio and Hancock.

But they ran across a Mt. San Jacinto team seeded No. 3 in the regional and that stands a good chance of making some noise at the state tournament.

“They make you play crazy and we got caught up in not having good possessions, and they were off to the races,” said Brian Beauchemin, Glendale’s coach.

Mt. San Jacinto, the Foothill Conference Southern Division champion, posted its 15th consecutive victory behind a balanced attack sparked by forward Shonray Johnson and guard Frank Clardy.

Johnson scored a game-high 25 points and Clardy finished with 23, 14 coming in the second half when the Eagles broke open a close game. Clardy made six of seven shots in the second half.

Every Eagle starter scored in double figures, including forward Dennis Smith (17 points) and guard Jamaal Tinsley (15), the player of the year in the south division.

“We were getting charged on, bullrushed, as I call it,” Beauchemin said.

Glendale stayed with the Eagles in the first half, rallying from a 27-19 deficit with an 8-0 spurt to tie the score, 27-27, on a Javien Moore rebound with 7:25 left before intermission.

Moore, a 6-foot-4 sophomore reserve forward, scored 12 of his 16 points in the half.

But a technical foul against Glendale’s Donald Holt seemed to spark Mt. San Jacinto and unnerve the Vaqueros, who quickly fell behind, 35-27.

“I don’t know what happened,” Beauchemin said. “[The official] said [Holt] said something. [The Eagles] were saying something the whole time. The first eight minutes were a lot of chatter.”

Glendale was within striking distance early in the second half before the Eagles turned a 67-60 lead into a 77-60 advantage with 10:22 to play.

Johnson led the charge with a dunk and a fastbreak layup.

The rattled Vaqueros were called for another technical foul in the second half.

Glendale freshman guard Tony Hoggatts finished with 24 points, seven more than his average, and Holt had 12 points. Chris Moreland added 10 points for the Vaqueros.

Eagle Coach John Chambers considers his team a strong state contender.

“You got to like our chances,” Chambers said. “We’ve matured and come a long way.”