Westchester Warms Up to Task at Pyramid
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 decidedly average 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.
In other games:
Long Beach Poly 55, Huntington Beach Ocean View 48--Reggie Butler scored 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Jackrabbits, who outscored the Seahawks, 31-11, in the first quarter.
Santa Margarita 71, Crenshaw 61--Lenny Collins’ game-high 20 points led four Eagles in double-digit scoring. R.J. Socci added 19, Brandon Rohe had 12 and Travis Smith 11..
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.
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.
Glendora 56, Anaheim Servite 32--Larry Monroe scored 19 points and Kyle Bechler had 17 for the Tartans..
Santa Ana Mater Dei 87, Miami (Fla.) Christian 55--Cedric Bozeman scored 24 points and Jamal Sampson had 17 points and 17 rebounds for the Monarchs.
