Knights win title; Hillers over Pack; Lions ready
- Updated: February 8, 2019
2019 EAST COUNTY PREP BOYS BASKETBALL
EastCountySports.com staff report
SAN DIEGO – The Foothills Christian Knights captured their fifth-straight Coastal League championship with a 73-50 win over host Francis Parker on Friday evening.
Foothills Christian (8-2 Coastal, 21-5 overall) earned the No. 1 seed in the San Diego CIF Open Division when the seedings were announced on Saturday.
The Knights, winners of ten straight games, will host San Marcos at Cuyamaca College in the quarterfinals.
Foothills Christian came out blazing against Parker, taking a 25-11 lead after the first quarter. The Knights made seven threes in the first half for a 22-point lead.
Foothills Christian’s YASSINE GHARRAM had 25points, 11 rebounds and seven assists in the contest.
GROSSMONT 68, WEST HILLS 46 – The Grossmont Foothillers earned a spot in the San Diego CIF Division II playoffs following their win over West Hills on Friday night.
Grossmont will play at top-seeded Rancho Buena Vista on Wednesday at 7.
West Hills’ emotional season came to an end with the lost.
The team lost its head coach following a heart attack before the season, then coach TIM BARRY’s wife became seriously ill.
“The heroes were my players this year,” Barry said. “These players have been amazing and Coach (Jeff) Armstrong would be so proud.
“I have been telling, players, students, and anybody who would listen in my lifetime that ‘it’s easy to be buddies when everything is going great, however, the true test of a person’s character comes when adversity sets in..’
The Foothillers trailed 14-12 after one
“Grossmont shot lights out and deserved to win tonight,” Barry said. “They played a little harder and their crowd on Senior Night did a great job to inspire their team.
LIBERTY CHARTER 49, HIGH TECH CHULA VISTA 47 – Sophomore TYLER SNELL went on a scoring rampage in the fourth quarter to rescue the Lions.
The Lions outscored the Bruins 21-11 in the fourth quarter to win on the road behind five three-pointers in the final period from Snell.
Before that, it was HTHCV that shut down Liberty in the third, outscoring the visitors, 10-2, out of the break.
Snell finished with 19 points, while junior JAMES ZUNIGA finished with nine points.
Senior JAVIEN LANKFORD and sophomore JONAH BELPREZ each put in eight points.
LCHS will host Rock Academy on Wednesday at 6:30 at Lemon Grove Rec Center in the first round of the San Diego CIF Division V playoffs.
Liberty Charter, the No. 7 seed, is making its first playoff appearance in four years. The Lions have never won a postseason game.
