East County Sports

Patriots stun No. 4 Mission Bay

Christian High during a time out on Friday night.

2019 EAST COUNTY PREP BOYS BASKETBALL

CHRISTIAN 54, MISSION BAY 44

EastCountySports.com staff report

MISSION BAY – Christian High head coach DAVION FAMBER hesitated to call his team’s win on Thursday over Cathedral Catholic an upset.

He knew his club was finally healthy, playing well, and was ripe to turn in a top performance against the ninth-ranked Dons.

On Friday, however, there could be no denying the Patriots had pulled off a shocking win after they controlled the tempo and the game in a 54-44 road win over the fourth-ranked Mission Bay Bucs on the hosts’ Senior Night Friday evening.

JACKSON LARSEN follows through on a three-pointer on Friday night.

How good were the Patriots?

Heck, the coach even got everybody into the game after the Pats had apparently secured the victory.

Beating two top ten clubs in less than 24 hours now has the rest of the teams in the upcoming Division I playoffs on notice.

The contest against the Bucs on Friday had a fast pace and the play was physical.

However, the Patriots appeared to be evenly matched with Mission Bay, according to Famber.

Christian attempts a three-pointer on Friday night.

The Patriots jumped out to an 18-8 lead in the first quarter, although the Bucs ended the period down by six points.

However, Mission Bay’s full-court press forced a few turnovers that brought them back into the game.

The Patriots, carrying a small 24-20 lead coming out of the half, looked to continue to grind out the game against the Bucs in the second half, according to the coach.

The Bucs got into foul trouble early in the third quarter and were sending the Patriots to the stripe frequently in the second half.

Christian (13-12, 6-4 Western League) led 37-30 at the end of three quarters, then began to pull away in the fourth by knocking down huge shots and playing strong defensively, forcing the Bucs to turn the ball over and take contested shots.

The Patriots might have had an even easier time had they connected better at the charity stripe. Christian made just 11-of-23 free throws.

Christian High junior guard MILES WILLIAMS had another outstanding night, picking up where he left off against Cathedral a night earlier. He scored 18 points, including 5-of-6 from the line, and grabbed five rebounds.

Larsen dunks in the fourth quarter.

Northern Arizona-bound senior JACKSON LARSEN also had 18 points for the Pats, while grabbing 11 rebounds.

Larsen got out on the break with just over two minutes to play for an emphatic jam that signaled the Patriots had bagged the victory.

Christian, which won its third straight game, led by 15 with under a minute to play.

The Patriots, which moved ahead of the Bucs into third place in the league standings, will head back to Mission Bay High on Saturday for a rematch of last year’s CIF Division II championship game against Francis Parker in an event that matches teams from the Western League against squads from the Coastal League.

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