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For the second
time this season, the Cerritos College men's
basketball team reached the finals of a tournament,
only to be turned away in the championship game.
Over the weekend, the Falcons competed in the San
Diego Mesa Tournament and opened with a convincing
94-71 win over the host Olympians. That sent them to
the finals of the four-team tournament, where they
dropped a 62-52 game against Reedley College to put
their record at 4-6 on the year. In their first
tournament of the year, Cerritos reached the finals
of the Irvine Valley Tournament. They will now
compete in the Glendale Tournament over the weekend.
In the opening win
over the Olympians, the team shot 61% from the
field, with freshman guard
Brian
Barner (Palisades HS) draining
four three-pointer and all six free throws, en route
to an 18-point game. Sophomore guard
Van Girard
(Gahr HS) had another hot hand, as he
netted 9-of-11 shots to finish with 19 points and a
team-high nine rebounds. Freshman guard
Jonathan
Garcia (St. John Bosco HS)
contributed 11 points, while freshman forward
Marcellus Jackson (Independence HS)
came off the bench to make all five of his shots, as
he finished with 11 points and seven rebounds.
The Falcons
received 27 points and 16 rebounds off the bench, as
freshman guard
Sean
Chennault (Ben Franklin (PA) HS)
added eight points and three rebounds. Scoring nine
points each for Cerritos were sophomore guard
Jeremiah Barnes (Los Altos HS)
and freshman guard
Jeremy Pope
(Mayfair HS).
In the finals,
Cerritos led by eight (29-21) at intermission, but
struggled from the field in the second half. Barnes
led the team with 12 points and pulled down six
rebounds, while Girard chipped in with 11 points and
seven caroms. The Tigers looked to Marquel Hoskins
down to stretch, and he converted his free throws to
seal the fate for the Falcons. On the game, Hoskins
made 12-of-13 free throws. Once again, the Falcons
received good bench support, with Jackson (eight
points, seven rebounds) and freshman guard
Leo Arnold (Santa
Monica HS), who had six points and three
assists, playing well.
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