PASADENA – In just a matter of days, Pasadena High School went from waltzing through the first round of the Rose City Classic to getting a scare Thursday night in second-round action at home.
The Bulldogs held a 16-point lead at the half, but the game was a lot closer, more intense and even sloppier than the 73-57 win over L.A. Jordan actually indicated.
Pasadena (2-0) will play Price (2-0) in the semifinals tonight at 8 at Pasadena. La Verne Lutheran and Centennial of Corona will play in the other semifinal at 6:30 p.m.
The Bulldogs went from a nonchalant 50-point win over Van Nuys in the first round to facing a pesky Jordan team that caused Pasadena to commit 22 turnovers, including nine in the first quarter. To make matters worse, the Bulldogs shot a woeful 14 of 32 from the free-throw line.
Pasadena senior point guard George Toyama held it together for the Bulldogs with 20 points and seven assists despite the Bulldogs initially having a hard time breaking the press.
“But when we did break the press we made them pay for it,” Pasadena coach Tim Tucker said.
Junior forward Todd Lewis finished with 12 points, and his dunk with 3:28 left in the fourth quarter off a behind-the-back assist from Toyama on a 2-1 fast break all but sealed the win and dissipated all, if any, of Jordan’s momentum.
“They’re (Jordan) fast all over the court and we knew that,” Tucker said. “Anytime you start playing erratic you start making crazy plays. I thought we settled down and our shooters were hot with George knocking down some hard shots and then we got that drive from Todd Lewis.”
There was a scary moment with 5:22 left in the second quarter when center Steven Adams was elbowed directly on the right side of his head where he has a running scar from the top of his head down to the temple of his ear. The scar is from brain surgery nearly one year ago.
Adams, limited to four points, clearly was dizzy from the blow to the head as he bumped into assistant coach Tony Brooks as he headed for the bench. There was no blood or tear to the scar. Adams was held out the rest of the first half, but was cleared to start the second half.
