Westchester Warms Up to Defeat Villa Park
Westchester survived a cold-shooting first half and Villa Park’s tandem of Matt MacGinnis and Sean Phaler to record a 74-60 victory over the Spartans Saturday in the Nike Extravaganza at the Pyramid in Long Beach.
Guard Brandon Heath scored 15 points for the Comets, The Times’ top-ranked team in the Southland. But Westchester looked ordinary in the first half, shooting only 33.3% from the field and taking a three-point lead into intermission.
A big reason for the Comets’ early troubles was the play of MacGinnis and Phaler. MacGinnis scored nine of his game-high 25 points by halftime and Phaler had 14 of his 22.
But Westchester came out hot in the third quarter and extended its lead to 12 points entering the fourth.
Ashanti Cook and Chad Bell finished with 10 points each for the Comets, who shot 41.9% from the field.
Villa Park Coach Kevin Reynolds, whose team has also played Mater Dei, The Times’ second-ranked team in the Southland, said he was equally impressed with the Comets and the Monarchs.
“Westchester may be more athletically talented,” Reynolds said, “but Mater Dei executes a little better.”
In other games:
Santa Margarita 71, Crenshaw 61--Lenny Collins’ game-high 20 points led four Eagles who scored in double digits. R.J. Socci added 19, Brandon Rohe had 12 and Travis Smith 11.
Marcus Williams led the Cougars, who trailed by eight points at halftime, with 14 points.
Fairfax 73, Los Alamitos 48--Jasha Bluntt led a balanced scoring attack with 17 points as the Lions established a 15-point halftime lead and won going away. Evan Burns added 15 points and Kevin Bell and Alex Bausley had 13 points apiece for Fairfax.
Ed Courtemarche and Eric Yarger had 10 points each for the Griffins, who made only three of 13 three-point attempts.
Bellflower St. John Bosco 63, Costa Mesa 60 (OT)--Gio St. Amant led all scorers with 32 points and had 13 rebounds for the Braves. Chad Vakili led the Mustangs with 15 points.
Glendora 56, Servite 32--Larry Monroe scored 19 points and Kyle Bechler had 17 for the Tartans. The Friars, who shot only 28.9% from the field, were led by Joe Kurz’s nine points.
Las Vegas Durango 74, Capistrano Valley 60--Jay Sherrod scored 22 points and Frank Brown added 20 for the Trailblazers, who converted six of 10 three-point attempts.
Pete Decasas had 15 points for the Cougars, who made only three of 16 three-point attempts.
