Jaguars, Griffins fall at Southwestern tourney
- Updated: December 9, 2018
East County Sports staff report
CHULA VISTA (12–9-2018) -The Southwestern College Jaguars’ plans to capture their own tournament went sideways Saturday (Dec. 8) when Chaffey College of Rancho Cucamonga rallied from a 12-point deficit to secure -73 decision to advance to Sunday’s title game.
Chaffey dominated the middle of the contest, going on a 62-28 run yo mount a 72-60 lead with six minutes remaining.
For the visiting Panthers (6-3), Kehasson Oulai tallied a team-best 16 points, then shared the rebounding lead with teammate Aaron Johnson with 6 each.
For Southwestern (9-3), Nathaniel Pearson registered game-highs of 22 points– one of four Jags to score in double figures — and 10 boards, The other top scorers were Marquavian Stephens| (17 points), Jordan Cooke (13), and D..J Wilson (10).
Barstow 69, Grossmont 64: The Griffins were down by 9 points in the second half, yet rallied to move within a basket on a Josh Burton bucket to make it 58-56 with 5:17 remaining, then tied the ballgame on a pair of Burton foul shots with 4:30 left.
Grossmont took its first lead late in a ballgame all season after Josh Peloquin converted the first of two foul shots with 4:01 to go.
However, the Vikings’ Greg Walter scored on a layin to key an 11-5 run to close the contest, capturing Saturday’s (Dec. 8) consolation elimination contest at the Southwestern College Tournament in Chula Vista.
Grossmont made one more run, moving to with 64-62 on a Jabbar Wade foul shot with 23 seconds on the clock, but Barstow went 5-for-6 at the line to win for the first time all season.
For the Griffins (0-12), Burton led the team with 15 points, Peloquin added 13 and Wade had 12.
The Vikings (1-10) received 18 points from Carver Locke, while Walter had 14.
West Hills Coalinga 88, San Diego Mesa 85: The Falcons have made an annual trip to the Mesa Tournament for years, so the Olympians returned the favor with a quick, 2-game excursion to the Central Valley, but were swept following Saturday’s (Dec. 8) non-conference setback. On Friday, Mesa also fell to College of the Sequoias in Visalia.
Meanwhile, WHCC, which is now 5-6 and on a 3-game win streak, us now guided by new head coach Adedokun Olanrewaju, a former Falcons standout, following the retirement of Mark Arce.
