LOS ANGELES - It was one of those proverbial grind-it-out games. Seemingly no one enjoys a slow-paced, defensive-minded affair. Nevertheless,
Loyola (Los Angeles) was up to the task in a second-round game of the Southern California Regional playoffs.
Parker Jackson-Cartwright filled out
a serious box score.
File photo by Louis Lopez
The Cubs prefer to play at an up-tempo pace, rest assured. They switched things up, however, Saturday night in their Division I showdown against
Etiwanda. The end result was a 48-35 victory that moved Loyola one step closer to an all-important berth in the finals.
"They don't like to play fast, and while we love when people run with us, we can win games in a lot of different ways,'' Cubs coach Jamal Adams said. "We knew what to expect. Our kids we're prepared. We had a couple of good practices before this game. We we're ready.''
Whether the Cubs (26-5) are prepared for what awaits them next remains to be scene. They advance to Tuesday's semifinals against
Mater Dei (Santa Ana). Ranked No. 6 in the MaxPreps.com Xcellent 25, the Monarchs took care of business Saturday and defeated Mission Viejo, 78-66.
The Cubs might not be in the position they are, one game away from an appearance in the title game, without
Parker Jackson-Cartwright The highly-touted sophomore point guard scored a team-high 13 points. He also added added six rebounds, four steals and a pair of assists.
With Jackson-Cartwright running the show, Loyola took a 13-10 lead at the end of the first quarter. Give Etiwanda (29-3) some credit, it never backed down from the challenge.
Fellow underclassmen,
Jordan McLaughlin did his best to keep the Eagles close throughout. They trailed by a point at halftime and were tied, 29-29, to start the fourth quarter. When all was said and done, McLaughlin, also a sophomore, ended up with 10 points.
Julian Harrell took over down the stretch for Loyola. The senior, and Penn commit, scored a pair of baskets to give the Cubs some much needed momentum in the fourth quarter as they extended the lead to double digits and never looked back. Harrell finished with 13 points.
"We thought we matched up well, but they like to play fast, get up and down the court, we were a little leery of doing that with them," Etiwanda coach Dave Kleckner said.
It will be interesting to see what style of play Loyola encounters against Mater Dei (30-2). The Cubs, mind you, are no slouch. MaxPreps.com ranks them No. 61 nationally, No. 11 in the state and No. 7 in the division. They are capable of making things interesting against the Monarchs.
In the other half of the Division I bracket,
Long Beach Poly advanced to the semifinals. Ranked No. 20 in the MaxPreps.com Xcellent 25, the Jackrabbits did not have any trouble against Orange Lutheran on Saturday night. They thoroughly defeated the Lancers, 70-62.
Long Beach Poly (28-2) will play
Bullard (Fresno) on Tuesday after a 70-63 win against Woodland Hills Taft on Saturday. The Knights (31-3) figure to have their hands full.
DIVISION IV Brandon Taylor did not have his best game of the season from a statistical standpoint. The senior did, however, do a good job of providing visiting
Pacific Hills (Los Angeles) with a steady presence from start to finish in a 62-54 second-round victory over Encino Crespi.
Taylor scored seven of his 16 points during a stretch of the fourth quarter to help Pacific Hills (30-4) maintain an advantage that proved too difficult to overcome.
London Perrantes finished with 13 points for the Celts (23-8).
It is worth noting the Bruins scored only six points in the second quarter and trailed 32-23 at the break.
Namon Wright apparently had seen enough. Taylor handed out multiple assists to Wright, who finished with 22 points to help complete the somewhat improbable comeback.
The Bruins advance to Tuesday night's semifinals against
Serra-Gardena (30-2). The Cavaliers defeated visiting San Diego Francis Parker, 53-31, on Saturday night.
"Everyone talks about how good Division I is, but I think that a few teams in Division IV could hold their own against the big boys in Division I,'' Taylor said.
Lutheran (La Verne) (24-7) and
Price-Los Angeles (23-8) both prevailed in second-round games Saturday night will meet in the other semifinal on Tuesday.
Much more on Southern California and Northern California playoffs later.
