Edgar Melik-Stepanyan
PASADENA -- Tempo, shooting and rebounding, it seems like the La
Canada High boys' basketball team controls almost all aspects of a game.
No wonder the Spartans are one of the best teams in the area.
La Canada dominated the offensive and defensive ends of the court en
route to defeating Los Angeles Marshall, 58-31, Thursday at La Salle High
in a La Salle/Temple City Holiday Classic second-round game.
"We are really balanced. We have a lot of shooters and postmen that
can dominate," Spartan center Greg Gaudino said. "We have a lot of depth
too. We could pretty much control most of the game."
The junior, who is the leading scorer for La Canada, had only six
points, but contributed a game-high nine rebounds.
Gaudino will lead his team at 7:30 p.m. today at La Salle High when it
faces either La Salle or St. Bernard highs.
From the onset, the Spartans forced L.A. Marshall into taking bad
shots as they took a eight-point lead after the first quarter.
The Barristers (5-6) shot only one for 13 (7.7%) in the opening
quarter and three for 25 (12%) in the first half as they fell behind,
21-8, at halftime.
L.A. Marshall eyed Gaudino in the low-post, which freed up open jump
shots by La Canada's guards. Jordan Ballard took full advantage, as he
scored a game-high 16 points, 12 from beyond three-point territory.
La Canada (10-2) forward Mark Moore added 10 points and eight
rebounds.
"Right now I feel pretty good about the way we are playing," La Canada
Coach Tom Hofman said. "Overall I think we are where we want to be, maybe
a little bit more ahead. A big key is to get the control of the game. I
thought our defensive intensity was pretty good."
Osiris Bashir led L.A. Marshall with 12 points.
BOX SCORE
La Canada 11 10 16 19 -- 56 L.A. Marshall 3 5 8 15 -- 31
La Canada -- Ballard 16, Moore 10, Kim 9, Gaudino 6, Wang 4, Neyland
3, Cheney 2, Hofman 2, De Vore 2, Barnes 2.
Three-pointers: Ballard 4, Kim 3, Neyland.
L.A. Marshall -- Bashir 12, Beltran 9, Vasquez 2, Quinones 2, Bacosa
2, Young 2, Dayrit 2.
Three-pointers: none.
