Boys Hoops: Covina/Nogales tournaments
Since the coach was kind enough to send the updates, I'm more than happy to post it.
55th Annual Covina Christmas Tournament
Monday's championship semifinals
Fremont 60, Bishop Amat 18
Chino Hills 63, Bonita 43
Tuesday's championship
Fremont vs. Chino Hils, 8:30 p.m.
3rd place game
Bishop Amat vs. Bonita, 7 p.m.
Nogales Tournament
Monday's championship semifinals
Corona Centennial 57, Damien 41
Rancho Verde 54, Nogales 37
Tuesday's championship
Corona Centennial vs. Rancho Verde, 8 p.m.
3rd place game
Nogales vs. Damien, 6:30 p.m.
For Covina tournament semifinals story, click thread
There was still a second left in the first half, but Bonita High School boys basketball coach Greg Eckler was so frustrated he walked off before the whistle sounded.
The second half didn't go much better for Bonita, whose undefeated season ended with a 63-43 loss to Chino Hills in the semifinals of the 55th annual Covina High School Christmas tournament.
After starting 13-0, the Bearcats dropped their first game against a Huskies team they beat 48-35 earlier in the season.
On Monday, however, the Huskies came out strong from the start, leading 39-21 at half, then pulling away in the third quarter behind guard Derek Brown, who finished with a game-high 22 points.
Brown nailed three 3-point baskets in the first half and helped build a 55-33 third-quarter lead by hitting seven straight foul shots, then watching teammate Ahmed Salem close out the quarter with six straight points.
After holding Chino Hills to just 35 points in their first meeting, Eckler was particularly disappointed with their effort on the defensive end, especially in the paint where the Huskies did most of their damage.
"I thought they outhustled us for 32 minutes, that's the bottom line," Eckler said. "It didn't matter what we did, when you get outhustled you're not going to win."
Brown was the difference-maker, hitting off-balance shots and getting to the foul line on penetration.
"He gets into the cracks and does a good job of getting fouled and drawing contact," Eckler said. "He was great tonight."
CJ Miller led the Bearcats with 12 points and Nolan Abernathy and Cody Bennett added 10 points apiece, but all three had trouble getting off shots against the Huskies' pressure defense.
Abernathy's jumper cut the Huskies' lead to 39-26 early in the third quarter, but the Huskies answered back with eight-straight points to go up 47-26.
In fact, everytime the Bearcats made a push, the Huskies had an answer.
"I was really unhappy with how much scoring they did inside," Eckler said. "They did hit some shots today, but when you give up layups, those are pretty easy to make."
After winning the West Covina tournament, Bishop Amat looked almost helpless in the other semifinal, losing to Fremont, 60-18.
Fremont's Kelvin Smith had seven 3-pointers and 25 points in the first half. Smith finished with a game-high 27 points as Fremont won without DePaul-bound forward Kelvin Smith.
It was just Bishop Amat's (11-2) second loss, but a tough one to swallow after not scoring a field goal in the second half.
Abel Rodriguez led the Lancers with 5 points as they only scored 3-points in the second half, all on free throws.
Chino Hills (10-4) will play Fremont (11-3) in the championship game tonight at 8:30 p.m., leaving Bonita (13-1) to face Bishop Amat in the third-place game at 7 p.m.
After simmering down, Eckler reflected on the Bearcats' surprising start.
"It's been a fantastic run, it's been unexpected," Eckler said. "The whole thing we base it on is one game at a time and playing hard, and we didn't do that tonight.
"Coming into the gym if you would have told me we were going to give this effort, I would of told you we didn't need to come."
[TAG1]fred.robledo@sgvn.com
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sgvpride,
Amat won D3AA in 2002, Glendora D1A in 2001 and San Dimas D3AA in 1999.
La Verne Lutheran's D5AA title last season would not be considered a "major division (top half) CIF championship" which is what I wrote.
So like I wrote... "Amat is still the last SGV boys team to win a major division CIF championship. "
On another LVLu note, it's interesting that their first D5AA CIF title last year didn't even make Freds list of top 10 stories being topped by Northview beating Amat in the opening local *tournament* of the year or Northview beating Covina in extra innings during a regular league game.
Did Fred get a little carried away and starry eyed with Northview in 2008... or was it so shocking to him they achieved what they did that those wins were considered "top stories"?
LVL last year joe amat
And didn't san dimas win it that same year?
Easy there Dub-Zero! "Are now and have been forever!!"??? A little strong - no?
Amat is still the last SGV boys team to win a major division CIF championship. That wasn't that long after you were gone. Of course that was under previous leadership, so it seems like eons ago.
I feel you though... Fred wrote in todays paper - "NO field goals in the entire second half!" That hurts! And the whole monument to MSGr thing bugs me a bit too. I predicted that name change months ago - you could see that coming miles away. The thing is - that monument would have hoops fans sitting in it if we still had a decent coach.
Alums need to voice their opinion like we did during the football fiasco. It ultimately hit MSGr in the pocketbook and now we're better for it.
18 POINTS!!! Amat scored only 18 POINTS! This is Boys Basketball right? Amat should just fold their boys basketball (dare I call it) Program. They are a waste of money and resources. Are now and have been forever!! Put the money to use somewhere else or let M. Carroll build himself another monument to himself on campus.
Covina Tournament
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
10:00am Wilson vs. Rosemead
11:30am West Covina vs. Sierra Vista
1:00pm Los Altos vs. Covina
2:30pm Northview vs. Rowland
Consolation Championship
4:00pm Claremont vs. California
5th Place Game
5:30pm Upland vs. South Hills
3rd Place Game
7:00pm Bishop Amat vs. Bonita
Championship Game
8:30pm Fremont(LA) vs. Chino Hills
Fred, thanks for the update and so what that it took a loss to get Bonita a little love. They have been playing with confidence and hopefully this loss was not due to OVER-confidence. Great start none the less and hopefully they can continue it tonight. Good luck against the lancers tonight.
i dont know what happened tonight.
Bonita wasn't the same. they werent playing defense and no one stepped up tonight i saw a whole different team
plus chino hills huskies #23 was on fire from 3 point range
lets hope bonita can bounce back
Go Bearcats!
That's a trend lately Joe. Play down. Get wins. Keep your job. You'd be surprised how effective that is with parents and Alumni. Maybe it's the travel ball mentality. Don't make the team....start a new one. Don't like the coach....get a new coach. Can't get a new coach....coach the team yourself. Always teh quick fix. That's what passes as our gifted and spoiled society. Look at all those knucklehead kids with neck tattoes...where will they be in 20 years? Who cares...in 20 years technology will catch up and laer removal will be all the rage. Qucik fix society. Can't win enough games....dummie down. Seen a couple of games tonight and what passes for activity is now considered accomplishment. What passes as great hustle is really being out of control. Taking too many shots is never seen as not running the offense...it's "he got game!!!" Where did all the fundamentals go Joe? No one wants to do the dirty work. Everyone wants the glory. Rebounds are boxing out, shooting is not the same as scoring and discipline means just that. Well good to hear Wiard is coaching again.
Reality set in tonight for the Lancers. These are the kind of teams we need to compete with and we lost by 40+? And we only scored EIGHTEEN points???
No - not wrong about the coach at all. Thank goodness that Coach Wiard is not coaching the girls and is doing the yeomans work for the boys. Ask anyone who has seen a game or watched a practice who does the majority of the coaching?
A good record with wins over Rosemead, Bassett, SEM,Bell Gardens, etc doesn't add up to success. They do have what I'd call three good wins against La Canada, Damien, and Upland. The other
I need to be fair. If I'm going to question other programs schedules in football and baseball I certainly have to call out the Lancers for our weak schedule in basketball.
What is most telling about the program is when you see Amat SGV Player of the Year Paul Porter's younger brother at South Hills - and Paul helping to coach there. An All-CIF Amat player from the '80s has a son who is one of the best juniors in the state (committed to UCLA)... and chose not to play basketball at Amat after seeing this coach. And several of his travel teammates would have followed. Not to mention the players who have left or not played over the past few years. That is just as bad as the exodus that happened in football and the only way to fix it is the same kind of change.
Who won between rowland and south hills?
bishop amat lost by 50 to fremont and chino hills smacked bonita by 20.
Does anyone have an update on the scores?
Was Joe Amat wrong about the Amat Boys Basketball Coach?
They seem to be winning and handling the pressure.
Maybe now Joe will attend the Amat boys basketball games again.
Etiwanda will stop those guys.
Bonita cruises again. They are 13-0 now. who is going to stop these guys? i Nelieve right not no one. The face Chino Hills in the semis and have already beat them in the Glendora Rowland tourney. Number one in the valley for sure
Wow Amat's Boys basketball, what a huge surprise and improvement.
That should move them along the ranks.
Schedule for Monday, December 29, 2008
10:00am West Covina vs. Wilson
11:30am Sierra Vista vs. Rosemead
1:00pm Los Altos vs. Claremont
2:30pm California vs. Covina
4:00pm Upland vs. Northview
5:30pm South Hills vs. Rowland
Semi-Finals
7:00pm Bishop Amat vs. Fremont
8:30pm Chino Hills vs. Bonita
Results from Saturday:
Los Altos def. West Covina
Claremont def. Wilson
California def. Sierra Vista
Covina def. Rosemead
Bishop Amat def. Upland
Fremont def. Northview
Chino Hills def. South Hills
Bonita def. Rowland
Wwho won the games Fred?
Damn those are some skinny basketball players Northview has. They need to get in the weight room! haha