The Cubs beat the Covina High School Colts, 75-53, in the first game of the St. John Bosco Tournament on December 10.  They are 1-0 in the tournament and 7-4 overall.

Starting Cubs

PG: Neil Owens, #3

SG: Mason Butler, #10

C: James Keefe, #22

SF: CJ Jones, #13

PF: Anthony Lucenti, #30

1st Quarter

Covina opened the quarter with a three-pointer with 7:36 left.  A layup by senior forward Anthony Lucenti got the Cubs on the board, 3-2, with 7:14 to go.  Senior guard Neil Owens made a layup to give the Cubs a 4-3 lead with 6:12 remaining. The Cubs went on a 10-0 run highlighted by a dunk from senior center James Keefe and layups from Lucenti and Owens.  A three-pointer and a layup by the Colts ended the Cubs’ scoring streak. The Cubs led 14-8 with 2:07 to play. Junior forward Colby Brooks made a three-pointer to extend Loyola’s lead to 9, 17-8,with 1:25 left.  The Colts made a layup on the other end, but did not convert the three-point play. On the other hand, Lucenti converted a three-point-play, and the Cubs led 20-12 with 43 seconds left. The quarter ended on a two-point basket by the Colts.

Score: Loyola 20, Covina 14.

2nd Quarter

The Cubs began the quarter with a layup by junior forward Grant Roquemore, leading 22-14 with 7:42 left.  The Colts got a layup on the other end despite a great defensive effort by the Cubs, who continued to lead 22-16 with 6:30 to go.  A three-pointer by Owens put the Cubs up 25-16 with 6:06 left. After back-and-forth scoring runs by both teams, the Cubs led 28-22 with 5:05 left.  Keefe blocked a shot out of bounds with 4:29 left. He also made a layup with 4:07 left. The Colts made a layup and still trailed to the Cubs 30-24 with 3:39 remaining.  Due to Loyola’s transition offense, Keefe threw down a thunderous dunk and the Cubs led 32-24 at the 1:45 mark. A Colts layup made it a 32-26 game with 1:30 left. A three-pointer by senior guard Mason Butler put the Cubs up 35-26 with 1:10 left.  After a three-pointer by the Colts, the score was 35-29 in favor of Loyola. Keefe made a layup with less than three seconds left, but did not make the free throw attempt that followed. The Cubs entered the locker room leading by eight.

Score: Loyola 37, Covina 29.

3rd Quarter

The Cubs took charge in the third quarter.  A three-point play by Owens at the start of the quarter.  Keefe’s two-pointer put the Cub up by 13, 42-29, with 5:26 left.  After getting a rebound, Lucenti went coast-to-coast for a layup on the other end, expanding Loyola’s lead to 15.  The Colts got their first points of the quarter on a layup. A three-pointer by Owens put the Cubs up 47-31 with 4:19 left.  A Lucenti layup made it a 49-31 lead for Loyola with 4:05 to go. Covina earned a trip to the line at the 3:49 mark, but missed both free throw attempts.  Keefe made a layup, but did not convert the three-point play. The Cubs led 51-31 with 3:16. The Colts made a three-pointer to cut the lead to 17. Another James Keefe jam put the Cubs up 53-34 with 2:15 left.  After Covina’s two-pointer, the Colts trailed 53-36 with two minutes to go in the third frame. Owens answered back with a three-pointer to give the Cubs another 20-point lead. Keefe’s putback layup gave the Cubs a 22-point lead, 58-36, with 1:20 to go.  Brooks’ layup put the Cubs up by 24 to end the quarter.

Score: Loyola 60, Covina 36

4th Quarter

A putback layup by Brooks put the Cubs up 62-36 with 7:40 to go.  Covina answered with a three-pointer on the ensuing possession. Layups by Roquemore and senior forward Jake Perfitt gave the Cubs a 66-39 with 5:20 to play.  Covina went on a brief 5-0 run with a layup and three free throws. A layup from sophomore Remington Rofer resulted in a 68-44 Cubs lead. The Colts went on a 7-0 run but was still in the rearview mirror, trailing 68-51 with three minutes to play.  A three-pointer by junior forward Andre Perris got the Cubs another 20-point lead. Two made free throws by Covina ensued, but the Cubs still led by 18. A Cubs steal and a layup by senior guard James Nugent put the Cubs 73-53 with 1:47 to play. A Nugent steal and a layup by senior center Paul Hawkins sealed the Cubs victory with 30 seconds to play.

FINAL: Loyola 75, Covina 53

Stats

Aside from Keefe’s big night, there were two other scoring leaders for the Cubs.  Owens had 19 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists. Lucenti had 9 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists.  The Cubs shot 33/68 (49%) from the field, 7/17 (41%) from three, and 2/4 (50%) from the free-throw line.

Cub of the Game

The Cub of the Game was James Keefe, who had 20 points, 16 rebounds, 5 assists, and two blocks.  Assistant coach Frank Peters said, “James played well, double-double guy today.” He also had a message for James Keefe: “You need to be getting 16 rebounds every game, James.”  In response to Peters’s comments, Keefe said, “I think it’s a good goal, and it’s something I should strive for every night.”

Postgame

In the locker room, head coach Adams said the team played a good third quarter.  said, “Overall, I think we played well, could have played much better. I think we got lazy sometimes on defense, but Covina was well-coached.  We ran, we boxed out, missed a couple of defensive assignments, but overall I think we played well.” Keefe said, “Our team played really well, we got guys shots where we wanted them to have it, and it just worked out well that way.  We got on [Covina] early and took advantage. I was really proud of our performance, it was a great game.”

The Cubs were able to score some of their points thanks to their transition offense, which has been their bread and butter.  Peters said, “That’s actually our game. It’s getting buckets, moving in transition, getting the ball out immediately after the rebound, and just trying to push up the court and try to catch the defense off guard.  I think we played well in transition. I think we could play much better. We’ll see with the upcoming game against Los Alamitos, which is a very well-coached team. They shoot a lot of three and a lot of jump shots.  They’re definitely gonna put us to the test, so let’s see if we’ll be able to run on them like we did [with] Covina.” Keefe mentioned, “That’s our strength for sure. In transition, we get open threes and dunks and easy layups.  That’s been our strength all year, it’s where we’re successful. We’re gonna continue to play really good defense to get us in spots to get the ball in transition as well as outlet.”

In preparation for Wednesday’s game against Los Alamitos, Keefe said, “We’ll probably get a walkthrough on some of the stuff that they have.  I know we have film on them and we’ll go from there. We’ll be prepared, definitely.”

The Cubs will play Los Alamitos High School in the second game of the St. John Bosco Tournament on Wednesday, December 12.