St. Francis Varsity Cagers Beat Golden Valley in Tournament
The St. Francis varsity basketball team stopped Golden Valley, 64-49, to take ninth place in the Sun Valley Village Christian High Tournament last Friday.
The Golden Knights, who improved to 7-5, hosted Mission Hills Alemany on Tuesday to open Mission League play, but no results were available at press time.
St. Francis will travel to West Hills Chaminade tomorrow (Friday), Sherman Oaks Notre Dame next Tuesday and Encino Crespi next Wednesday for 7 p.m. league contests.
The Golden Knights blew Golden Valley away in the first quarter by moving out to a 26-7 lead. St. Francis increased its advantage to 43-18 at the half and led 51-28 after three quarters.
John Aranda pumped in a team-high 19 points. Ray McDonough added 15 points and Alain Gulezyan chipped in 12 points.
Others were Braden Shaw with six points, Daniel Senteno and RJ Younker with five points each and Brian Lynch with two points.
In an earlier Village Christian Tournament game last Thursday, the Golden Knights dropped San Marino, 61-35, in the consolation semifinals.
St. Francis led 16-8 at the end of the first quarter, 34-21 at the half and 53-31 after three quarters.
Aranda pumped in a game-high 23 points for the Golden Knights. McDonough had 11 points and Shaw came through with 10 points.
Senteno and Lynch both tossed in six points and Younker finished with five points.
In tournament pool play on Dec. 28, Los Angeles Baptist bested St. Francis, 59-48.
Both teams scored 18 points in the first quarter and the Golden Knights led 34-30 at the half and 43-38 after three quarters. But, L.A. Baptist exploded for 20 points in the fourth quarter to overtake St. Francis for the victory.
McDonough and Aranda led the Golden Knights with 12 points apiece. Shaw followed with eight points. Kevin Bessolo and Gulezyan both tossed in five points apiece. Younker added four points and Senteno finished with two points.
In first round tournament pool play on Dec. 27, St. Francis eased by Bethel, 73-55.
The Golden Knights scored 19 points in each of the first three quarters to lead 19-9, 38-19 and 57-38, respectively.
Shaw was the big gun for St. Francis with 20 points. McDonough was right behind with 18 points. Senteno, Lynch and Gulezyan scored eight points each.
Aranda finished with six points and Younker chipped in two points.