Coyotes, Griffins drop season openers
- Updated: November 4, 2022
2022-23 COMMUNITY COLLEGE MEN’S BASKETBALL
ECS staff report
The men’s basketball teams at Cuyamaca and Grossmont community colleges both suffered setbacks in their respective season openers this week.
The review of these contests:
Irvine Valley 60, Cuyamaca 46
VALENCIA — The Cuyamaca Coyotes managed just 23 points in each half, falling to Irvine Valley College in the Clash at Canyons tournament, hosted by College of the Canyons.
Irvine Valley raced to a 36-23 halftime advantage, growing to 61-40, as Cuyamaca was never able to trim the deficit to single figures.
For Cuyamaca (0-1), 6-foot-6 sophomore Anthony McManus (Ramona HS) collected team highs of 14 points and 6 rebounds, while freshman Xavier Rubio (Eastlake HS) added 10 points.
Irvine Valley held a rebounding advantage of 36-26, despite a team-best 8 boards by Ethan McCanless.
IVC saw Roman Swizek register 15 of his game-high 23 points in the first half to grab the early lead.
Cuyamaca continues Clash competition with two games this weekend. The Coyotes meet the most Cougars on Friday at 5 p.m., then play a consolation game to be announced on Saturday.
Cypress 97, Grossmont 81
CYPRESS — In what could be the tallest Cypress Chargers basketball team since the early 1970s, the Chargers shot more than 56 percent from the floor to rally past the Grossmont Griffins in Thursday’s (Nov. 3) season opener for both ballclubs.
Grossmont (0-1) also enjoyed a solid shooting night at 53 percent from the floor, but Cypress controlled the bards (30-20) to gain more second-half opportunities to pull away in the final 20 minutes.
Former Monte Vista Monarch Brandon Tully paced the Griffins with 18 points on 6-for-8 shooting, while former Helix Highlander Samuel Stewart IV added 11 points.
However, Grossmont had no answer to stop Cypress forwards Blake Ballard (33 points) and Grant Sil (26), who each scored 11 points from the foul line on just 24 combined attempts.
Cypress once fielded a 7-for-1 freshman in future NBA center Swen Nater, who once played for the San Diego Clippers (among other clubs). Nater later coached San Diego Christian College (under its original name) to an NCCAA national men’s basketball championship in 1989-90.
Grossmont continues its season-opening road schedule by meeting host Mt. San Antonio in the Gene Victor Memorial Classic in Walnut on Thurs., Nov. 19.
