Boys Basketball: Cypress ends Pioneer’s six-game win streak

Pioneer's Brandon Rivera (23) goes for the rebound against Cypress' Erik poke (12) in the first half of a prep basketball game at Pioneer High School in Whittier, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2016. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

Pioneer’s Brandon Rivera (23) goes for the rebound against Cypress’ Erik poke (12) in the first half of a prep basketball game at Pioneer High School in Whittier, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2016. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

By Stephen Ramirez
WHITTIER — Pioneer High School believes its Del Rio League boys basketball title two years ago was more of the start of a winning trend than an aberration, and the Titans have showed it so far this season, winning their first six games.
The streak was stopped Wednesday, but Pioneer showed it’s a tough out after pushing Cypress to overtime before losing, 82-71, in a Pioneer Titan Pride Classic quarterfinal game at Pioneer High.
Erik Papke scored 29 points and Myles Jones had 15 for the Centurions (5-3), who will face either Los Altos or Cerritos Valley Christian in Friday’s semifinals at 7:30 p.m.

Khieem Williams had 22 points and Mike Vasquez scored 21 for the Titans, who will play the Los Altos-Valley Christian loser in a fifth-place semifinal at 4:30 on Friday.
Pioneer looked like it might keep its winning streak going after rallying from an 18-point deficit and taking a 66-64 lead with 21 seconds left in regulation on a 3-pointer by Vasquez.
But Marcus Swain (13 points) hit an off-balance jumper from six feet with four seconds left to force overtime.
Papke, who had 18 points in the second half, and Jones took it from there. The duo combined for 11 points in the extra period as Cypress outscored Pioneer, 16-5, to advance.
Pioneer’s Mike Vasquez: “We’re just trying to perform to the best of our abilities each game. We have to play with our hearts and hopefully, come out ahead. Even though we started slow (Wednesday), we never gave up. We tried our best and we came up short.”

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