The Cubs lost to the Etiwanda High School Eagles on Saturday, 76-49. They participated in the Southern California Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association (SCIBCA) Showcase. The starting Cubs were Neil Owens, Mason Butler, CJ Jones, James Keefe, and Anthony Lucenti.
1st Quarter
A two-pointer by senior guard Neil Owens put Loyola on the board first, 2-0. The Eagles made their first basket to tie the game with 7:17 left in the quarter. Etiwanda made a layup to take the lead, 4-2, with 6:45 left. They also made a dunk to take a 6-2 lead with 5:55 to go. A layup by senior forward Anthony Lucenti helped the Cubs trail 6-4 with 5:40 to go. The Eagles answered with a three pointer, and led 9-4 with less than five minutes remaining in the opening quarter. A layup from senior guard CJ Jones made it a six point game with four minutes left. Another Eagles three put them up 12-6 with 2:27 left. Loyola ended the first quarter on a 8-0 run, including a three by junior forward Colby Brooks to take the lead.
Score: Loyola 14, Etiwanda 12.
2nd Quarter
The Eagles tied the game on a layup in the first minute of the second quarter. They also stole the ball and took the lead on a free throw, 15-14, with seven minutes remaining. A three-pointer by senior guard Jared Cox gave the Cubs a 17-15 lead. A 5-0 run by the Eagles gave them the lead, 20-17, with five minutes to go. A jump shot by senior center James Keefe decreased Etiwanda’s lead to one, 20-19, with 4:50 to play in the first half. The Eagles responded with a three-pointer, leading 23-19 at the 4:12 mark. A layup by junior forward Grant Roquemore cut the lead back to two, 23-21, with 3:20 left. With three minutes left, Etiwanda made another three to lead 26-21. Loyola’s 5-0 run tied the game at 26, thanks to a Keefe layup and a Jones three. The Eagles regained the lead off of another three, 29-26, with less than two minutes remaining. A Jones layup made it a one point game with 53 seconds left in the half. A layup by the Eagles made it 31-29 with less than 20 seconds to go. An Eagles player was fouled with 0.3 remaining and made his lone free throw attempt to close the first half.
Score: Etiwanda 32, Loyola 29.
3rd Quarter
Beginning the second half, an Owens three tied the game at 32 with seven minutes remaining. Etiwanda went on a 10-0 run, which was stopped by a Lucenti fadeaway. The Eagles led the Cubs 39-34 with less than 5:30 remaining. They continued their streak with a layup to lead 41-34. Brooks was fouled with 4:28 left, and made both of his free throws. The Cubs trailed 41-36. The quarter finished with a 16-2 run by the Eagles, who outscored the Cubs 26-9 in the quarter.
Score: Etiwanda 57, Loyola 38.
4th Quarter
Senior forward Jake Perfitt got a block and proceeded to commit a reach-in foul to begin the closing quarter. A technical foul was assessed on senior guard Mason Butler with 7:12 remaining. The Eagles made a free throw to go up by 20 points. A Lucenti layup made it a 58-40 game with less than 6:30 to play. A layup by the Eagles made it another 20-point deficit, 60-40, with 6:06 left. Owens was fouled at the 5:33 mark, and made one of two free throws. The Cubs trailed 60-41. Etiwanda went on an 8-0 run to lead 68-41 with 3:15 left. Brooks made a layup with less than three minutes to go. Etiwanda led the Cubs 72-43 when Perfitt was fouled. He made one of his two free throws. Senior forward Paul Hawkins was fouled with one minute to play, and made one of his two free throws. The Eagles went on a 4-0 run with less than 40 seconds to play. The game ended with a layup by sophomore forward Remington Rofer.
FINAL: Etiwanda 76, Loyola 49
Stats
Colby Brooks led Loyola in scoring with 9 points while also collecting 3 rebounds. CJ Jones had 7 points and 1 rebound. James Keefe rounded out the top 3 scorers for Loyola with 7 points, 8 rebounds, and 1 assist.
Postgame
Assistant coach Frank Peters believes the communication was very poor. “Because we had poor communication, the score is indicative of that. We didn’t talk, didn’t follow the game plan,” he said. He also mentioned that there was no communication in the second half. Lucenti said, “In the second half, I think all the guys, myself included, started playing one-on-one too much.” With communication, he stated, “I don’t think we’re talking enough, especially our leaders, including me. The captains, we gotta be more vocal on the floor.”
The Cubs will play King Drew Magnet High School in the Maranatha Tournament beginning Monday. Lucenti said, “I think we gotta stick to the scout, we’ll be ready to go. We just gotta play how we know how to play, and listen to coach.” Peters remarked, “We’re gonna play a very physical King Drew team that’s very athletic. We’ll go back to the drawing board. We’ll have to get this game out of our minds, learn from our mistakes here, and hopefully improve from those mistakes and get this win on Monday.”