Matadors work for win over Mustangs
- Updated: February 24, 2018
Mount Miguel junior MARQUISE EDWARDS goes up for a slam on Friday night. / EastCountySports.com photo
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Mount Miguel junior C.J. JACKSON defends against San Dieguito Academy on Friday night. / EastCountySports photo
By Ramon Scott
EastCountySports.com
SPRING VALLEY – The Mount Miguel Matadors got a bit of a reality check during their San Diego CIF Division III quarterfinal win over San Dieguito Academy at the Matadome Friday night.
Mount Miguel came into the playoff game with a 12-game winning streak, but the eighth-seeded Mustangs made the top-seeded Matadors work for a less-comfortable-than-it-looks 76-57 victory.
Mount Miguel advances to host fourth-seeded Hoover on Wednesday at the Matadome at 7 with a section championship game berth on the line.
The Matadors looked terrific in the first half to build a double-digit lead by the second quarter.
Daron Traylor scores late in the first half for Mount Miguel… the Matadors lead San Dieguito Academy, 37-26, in the San Diego CIF D3 quarterfinals. pic.twitter.com/dWKEO8VWRj
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Mount Miguel senior JAMES ALLEN was electrifying early and scored nine points in the first quarter.
Meanwhile, Matador junior MARQUISE EDWARDS was more the knock’em-down-type, as he added six points in the opening session, as the Matadors led 23-14 after one.
Allen scored right out of the chute in the second quarter and Mount Miguel was up by 11.
Mount Miguel senior DARON TRAYLOR, who connected for a shot high off the glass for a 13-11 lead in the first, continued to shine in this contest, scoring 11 first-half points, as the Matadors led 37-31 at intermission following a late Mustang run.
The Mustangs continued to harass the Matadors a bit into the early stage of the second half, but Allen helped the Matadors re-establish control in the third quarter with a basket that gave Mount Miguel a 41-32 lead.
Traylor hit a three-pointer as the Matadors extended the lead midway through the quarter.
This Matadors team is averaging 74.75 points per game, the highest scoring unit at the school in 50 seasons dating back to Dick Ridgway’s legendary Mount Miguel teams of the late 1960s.
Marquise Edwards (23), of Mount Miguel, shoots during the Matadors’ win over San Dieguito Academy in the San Diego CIF Division III quarterfinals on Friday night. / EastCountySports photo
The 1967-68 Mount Miguel squad won the San Diego CIF 2A championship, 68-55, over Helix, a year after losing the title game to the San Diego Cavers by one point.
The star of the ’67-’68 high-scoring team, which averaged a mind-boggling 85.1 points per contest, was San Diego Section Player of the Year MIKE ELA.
Mount Miguel had to wait 42 years for its next section title, when current coach JAY ROWLETT guided the Matadors to the Division III championship with stars A.J. STANFORD, HARRY BRAZELTON, BRYANT MITCHELL and J.J. NORTON.
Mount Miguel (28-4), the Grossmont Valley League champs, now face a Cardinals squad that has an 11-game winning streak of their own, as the Matadors shoot for the second-consecutive section title game appearance.
The Central League champs come to Spring Valley off playoff wins over Sweetwater (71-68) and Olympian (61-55) on Friday.
Hoover has a formidable trio of its own in seniors Jalnn Harrington, Chris Modica, and forward James Malveaux.
The Cardinals lost close games to Point Loma and San Diego on the road earlier this season, while the Matadors defeated those squads by 10 and eight points, respectively, although the games were at home.
