EL SEGUNDO HERALD January 7, 2016 Page 5 Eagles Play in Faraway Places By Gregg McMullin Photos by Coach Jason Ito The El Segundo high school boys’ and girls’ basketball teams did some traveling during the Holiday break. The Lady Eagles traveled to Henderson, Nevada to play in the Green Valley Invitational while the boys’ flew to Hawaii to play in the Punahou Invitational. It was an experience for each of the players on his/her teams that will remembered for future reunions to come. It’s not often that the Eagle’s basketball program has traveled to play out of state. You might expect that from teams such as Mater Dei or Fairfax but El Segundo? When head coach Jason Ito took over the program he vowed to take the team to another level and part of that master plan included playing top rated programs such as Fairfax, Loyola, Harvard Westlake and playing in Hawaii. To get ready for their trip to the nation’s fiftieth state the Eagles played host to Carson a perennial City Section powerhouse and came away with a well earned 63-44 win. The Eagles made great use of a defense that has continued to get more and more stingy. They forced the Colts to turnover the ball and took advantage of breakaway baskets. Chase Ali-Watkins had two consecutive assists to Justin Ostler for easy reverse layups. Saleia Ahloo and Jamal Howard had assists on fast breaks that led to a 22-11 lead in the second quarter. In the third quarter Ali-Watkins block on a layup attempt by Mark Baytec was a crowd pleaser in a quarter that was dominated by defensive plays. Still the Eagles couldn’t put the Colts away and the lead soured to six points before order was restored. In the fourth period Eli Chaney’s break away layup put the Eagles up by 14 points. Later with the defense shutting down the Colts, Ahloo gave the Eagles a 54-35 lead with a short range jumper and the Eagles went on for what resulted in an easy win. On Christmas night Coach Ito and his team made the rip to Hawaii for what would be a first for the program. Playing in the Punahou Invitational meant the opportunity of facing teams from Hawaii, Oregon and China. The Eagles would to face the top ranked and fourth Every Loss Matters By Adam Serrao When it’s Kobe Bryant’s last season in the league, one might think that there really isn’t ever a wrong time to win, per say. Sending the future Hall of Famer off with as many glorious moments to remember in his last year would clearly be the right thing to do. Problem is, this year hasn’t provided many of those glorious moments at all. Aside from some pre-game and off court celebrations put on by opposing team’s and their front office’s for Bryant, this season has been an utter and “All Laker fans, naturally, would like to see their team win. With a young core in place, it becomes even more rewarding to see the guys hustle their way to victories throughout the season.” complete failure. After last Sunday’s matchup with the Phoenix Suns, the Lakers had won three games in a row and four of their last eight. If you’re rooting for Steph Curry and the Warriors that may not sound like much, but when you have a top-three protected draft pick on the line, every loss matters. Last Friday night the NBA gave us all a New Year’s Day present by matching up the two worst teams in the NBA against one another. The 6-27 Lakers were taking on the 3-31 Philadelphia 76ers in a game that had much more on the line than what initially met the eye. In a game that was particularly hard to watch because of the simply horrendous field goal shooting, the Lakers eventually and painstakingly walked away with a 93-84 victory to bring their win total on the year up to seven games. The win did a couple of things. It marked the first time that the Lakers have won consecutive games all season long (they also beat the Celtics in Boston two nights earlier). In fact, it was the first time that the Lakers had won back-to-back games in nearly a year. The win also pushed the team further behind the 76ers in the race for the league’s worst record and pushed them one step closer to the Brooklyn Nets (9-23 at the time) in the race for one of the league’s worst records. If all of this sounds like gibberish to you, here’s the deal. This offseason, when the NBA draft rolls around, the Lakers will only get a pick in the draft if their record is one of the three worst records in the league. Still paying for their stake in the Steve Nash trade years ago, if the Lakers finish anywhere from fourth-worst to 30th-worst, then their pick goes to the 76’ers. In other words, Laker fans have to root for their team to lose in order to get another great draft pick. Crazy, isn’t it? The situation becomes particularly interesting when factoring in what’s at stake. Louisiana State freshman phenom Ben Simmons is being touted as the next LeBron James or Kevin Durant. To put it simply, the Lakers want him. They want him badly. So, in order to attain someone with as much talent at the NBA draft lottery held on May 17 in New York, they need to lose and lose as much as possible. At the time being, the Lakers are on pace to break the record for worst season in franchise history. That record was made just one year ago when the team finished 21-61 on the year. That means that following their win against Phoenix to bring their record to 8-27, the Lakers had 47 games left to win 13 more in order to not have their worst season ever. The problem is, it looks as if head coach Byron Scott is getting smarter, and the young guys on the team are getting better. Scott, finally realizing that it is a season lost, is doing what he should have done a long time ago - play the young guys on the team. With more time on the court and more reps at their positions, it is becoming more and more clear that D’angelo Russell, Julius Randle, Larry Nance Jr., Jordan Clarkson, and even Anthony Brown are all getting better and better as the season progresses. That means you can expect a slight uptick in wins as well, and a major uptick in quality of play, as Laker fans saw on display vs. the Suns. All Laker fans, naturally, would like to see their team win. With a young core in place, it becomes even more rewarding to see the guys hustle their way to victories throughout the season. With Kobe Bryant officially gone next year, the training wheels will be taken off and the youngsters will be on their own. This year has already shown its share of good fortune and, even through all of the losses, optimism toward the future. Imagine what one more giant piece to the puzzle like Ben Simmons (and hopefully a big free-agent signing) would do for a Lakers team that has seemingly forgotten what it’s like to have a winning season. The season is not over yet and the players on the team are only getting better, but let’s hope for everyone involved that the Lakers don’t win too many more games. - Asixlion@earthlink.net. • Southern California Regional Occupational Center The Leader in Providing Career Technical Education for Over 48 Years! 2300 Crenshaw Blvd. Torrance, CA 90501 Contact us at 310-224-4200 Spring Semester Begins 2/1/2016 ENROLL NOW!!! Career Technical Education classes for high school and adult students. Visit our website to see list of courses at www.socalroc.com We’ve merged! Expanding what’s possible with money is now (888) 422-2287 . www.abacuswealth.com See Eagles, page 14 While playing in a tournament in Hawaii the Eagles attended Germaine’s Luau.
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