Eisenhower Wins Ugly Over Miller

Good thing for Rialto Eisenhower that the Southern Section boys’ basketball playoffs don’t start for another two weeks.

It may take the Eagles that long to figure out how to move the ball past midcourt late in a tight game after they nearly collapsed in the fourth quarter of a 73-65 Citrus Belt League victory Tuesday over visiting Fontana Miller.

With the win, Eisenhower, No. 4 in The Times’ rankings, clinched at least a tie for its third consecutive league title. But the Eagles (20-2, 7-0 in conference) shouldn’t count on advancing deep in the playoffs unless they correct the ragged ball handling that plagued them Tuesday.

After building a 15-point lead midway through the fourth quarter, Eisenhower committed six consecutive turnovers against Miller’s full-court press as the Rebels (18-6, 4-3) went on an 11-0 run to pull within 64-60.

Eagle forward Sean Marshall made two free throws to end the run, but Miller guard Victor Michel made a three-point basket to make it 66-63 with about a minute left.

That was as close as the Rebels would get as Marshall, who finished with a game-high 30 points, converted five of six free throws in the final 47 seconds to secure the victory.

“We’ve got to cut [turnovers] down if we want to keep winning because the good teams later on could capitalize,” Marshall said. “All we have to do is concentrate.”

Cory McJimson added 16 points for Eisenhower.

Miller guard Jeremiah Ward scored 13 of his team-high 26 points in the first quarter as the Rebels took an early nine-point lead. The Eagles chipped away at the deficit and went ahead for good when John Shields made a lay-in just before the buzzer ended the first half.

Eisenhower Coach Steve Johnson said his team’s ball-handling problems were a result of too many recent blowout victories.

“We learned more tonight than with the 30-, 40-point victories we’ve been putting on teams,” Johnson said.

Ben Bolch

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In other boys basketball games:

Pasadena Muir 72, Glendale Hoover 57--Ryan Hollins had 17 points and 10 rebounds and Jamal Hall added 16 points for No. 16 Muir (20-3, 5-2) in a Pacific League game.

Loyola 73, La Canada St. Francis 52--Omar Wilkes had 19 points for No. 18 Loyola (18-3, 7-1) in a Mission League game. Chris Miller had 14 points and eight rebounds for St. Francis (5-13, 0-9).

Pasadena 48, Crescenta Valley 44--Deno Wilburn scored 19 points for No. 24 Pasadena (19-4, 7-0). Chris Luansing had 12 points, all on three-point shots, for Crescenta Valley (16-7, 5-2). Jimmy Goffredo, Crescenta Valley’s leading scorer at 24.1 points a game, was held to nine points.

In boys’ soccer:

Loyola 2, La Canada St. Francis 1--Thomas Weigandt and Mario Nicholas each scored a goal to lead Loyola (9-5-6, 5-0-3), which ended a 30-game unbeaten streak for St. Francis (13-1-6, 5-1-3).

In girls’ soccer:

Huntington Beach Edison 5, Huntington Beach 1--Amanda Draeger scored two goals and Heather Hutton added a goal and two assists for No. 6 Edison (15-1-5, 4-0-3) in a Sunset League game.

Newport Harbor 1, Irvine 0--Amy Burlingham scored six minutes into the game for No. 7 Newport Harbor (10-6-2, 3-1-2) in a Sea View League game.