EL SEGUNDO HERALD January 25, 2018 Page 5
Eagles Look to Rebound in Second Half
By Gregg McMullin
The first round of the Ocean League schedule
wrapped up last night for the El Segundo
Eagles. It didn’t go quite as planned for the
basketball teams, but both soccer teams have
done well and the girls water polo team is
staying hot.
The boys basketball team had gone 12-4
before starting a rigorous Ocean League
schedule that included games against Culver
City, Beverly Hills, Lawndale and Santa
Monica. All those teams were ranked in
their respective divisions this season and the
Eagles needed to play perfect basketball to
compete. With injuries to two starters, it was
a challenge for El Segundo.
With losses to Culver City and Beverly
Hills already, the Eagles faced a tough and
physical Lawndale team on the road and
came up one point short of an Ocean league
victory in losing 37-36. The Eagles played
brilliant defense all game long and had a
one-point lead and eight seconds left on the
clock. The final defensive stand fell short as
Lawndale hit a buzzer-beater with no time
left to earn the victory.
In addition to the painful buzzer-beater loss,
El Segundo junior captain Miles Jones was lost
for the season with an injury he sustained in
the third quarter. In his absence, junior forward
Dylan Aubert led the way with 18 points and
hit the key free throws to put the Eagles up
one in the closing moments of the game.
The injury to Jones comes at a real inopportune
time since junior forward Michael
Lynch has been out for a few games with a
concussion and isn’t expected back until this
week. So with the Eagles not having their top
scorer and top rebounder, the future looks
to be a challenge going forward.
El Segundo got its first league win against
Hawthorne by a score of 38-17 to improve to
13-8 overall and it puts the team in contention
for a CIF playoff berth. The Eagles played
with tenacious defense that held the Cougars
to a meager 23 percent shooting from the
field. El Segundo also forced 16 turnovers.
The Eagles went on a 7-0 run to start the
second quarter and led 13-3. Ben Peterson
came off the bench to hit a long three-pointer
to give El Segundo a 16-4 lead before halftime.
With Jones and Lynch out the rest of
the game, the team picked up its defensive
effort and it paid off.
Dylan Aubert’s trio of three-pointers gave
the Eagles an insurmountable 28-11 in the
third quarter and the team went on for an
easy win. Aubert led his team with 18 points
and seven rebounds, while Kyle Freeman and
Elijah Mark each had six points.
Second-year head coach David March
has done an incredible job with his team.
The style of defense he has employed is the
stingiest in the CIF Southern Section Division
4AA. El Segundo gives up an average
of 35.4 points per game, which is the best
in the entire division.
With their 13th win of the season the
Eagles became automatically playoff-eligible,
but would have to await the decision of the
pairings committee at the end of the season
to see if they advance.
March had this to say about his team: “I am
very proud of the group for staying together and
handling the adversity of the season. We have
dealt with losing key guys due to injury and
illness, but our team chemistry has stayed high
and other players continue to step up. Even after
two buzzer-beater losses in the last five games,
these guys have stayed positive and focused
towards our goal of making the playoffs.”
The Eagles faced Samo last night and travel
to Culver City Friday night before wrapping
up their regular home schedule next week
against Beverly Hills on Wednesday and
Lawndale next Friday with tip off at 7:30 p.m.
Lady Eagles Get
First League Win
El Segundo has struggled to get wins this
season. With wins over Lawndale 42-39 and
Hawthorne 68-29 in the Ocean League, things
could be going its way heading into the final
stretch of the regular season.
Lawndale’s success over the past three
seasons has averaged 18 wins per season.
The Lady Eagles had lost four consecutive
times to the Cardinals, but it all changed
on the road. In a tight game with nine lead
changes and the teams tied going into the
fourth period, El Segundo got a late lead
and held on for the victory.
Reese Jones led all scorers with 11 points
and pulled down 10 rebounds. Hannah Chang
sank five of six free throws and Makaela
Bordieri had five steals and three assists to
lead the Lady Eagles.
El Segundo had its best scoring game of
the year against Hawthorne when it defeated
the Cougars 68-29. Remicia Germeille scored
two buckets as the Lady Eagles outscored
their guests 23-0 to start the game. Chang’s
three-pointer closed out the first quarter to
make it 28-6. Kristen Tusbaki, who led all
scorers with 13 points, sank a three-pointer
to extend her team’s lead as El Segundo outscored
Hawthorne 20-0 in the second quarter.
Head coach Randy Kiehm emptied his
bench in the second quarter and throughout
the second half. All 11 players who played
scored. Besides Tusbaki’s career-high game,
Chang had 11 points, Reese Jones had nine
points, and Germeille and Kayla Smith-Petty
each had six points to lead their team.
The Lady Eagles played host to Santa
Monica last night and are on the road on
Friday. They’ll wrap up their home schedule
next week by hosting Beverly Hills next
Wednesday and Lawndale next Friday. Both
games are set for a 6 p.m. tipoff.
Soccer Teams Thriving
In League Play
After defeating Lawndale 4-2 and then
Hawthorne 6-2, El Segundo improved to 4-0
in the Ocean League before hosting co-Ocean
League leader Santa Monica yesterday. The
Eagles have been playing some of their best
soccer lately and it comes at a great time.
Against Lawndale’s stout defense, Eagle seniors
Tyler Villalobos and Mason Bemis each
scored goals as well as junior Jack Finders
and sophomore Dennis Vezina.
The Eagles had their best scoring game in
over three seasons when they pounded out
a 6-2 win over Hawthorne. The last time El
Segundo scored six goals in one game was
against Gardena in a 6-0 win on Dec. 9, 2014.
Against Hawthorne, the Eagles scored three
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The Lonzo Ball Effect on the LA Lakers
By Adam Serrao
Nowadays, mentioning the last name of Ball
may have the tendency to elicit feelings of annoyance
as LaVar Ball’s smug smile and constant
commitment to bravado likely are the first things
that come to mind. Very quietly, though, LaVar’s
son, Lonzo, is living up to the hype of the
number two pick in the draft whether Lakers
naysayers choose to acknowledge it or not.
Lonzo, who is the only Ball family member that
anyone should even care about, is proving himself
as much by being off of the court as he has
proven himself on it. Though he is only 20 years
young and just a rookie in a league that is full of
grown men and proven veterans, Lonzo has quickly
established himself to be this year’s most valuable
player on the Los Angeles Lakers roster.
The Laker rookie point guard came of college
at UCLA and quickly turned into one of
the most polarizing players in all of the NBA.
Whether that’s because of his father’s incessant
gabbing or the game that he brings to
the hardwood may never be fully determined,
but Lonzo has certainly developed a knack to
absorb scrutiny for anything and everything
that he does with a basketball in his hands.
Coming out of college, the knock on Lonzo
was that his jump shot would never make it in
the NBA. In his first month or two in the league,
Lonzo seemed to be proving all who knocked
him right. His shooting percentage was in the
cellar, his three-point percentage was horrible
and his jump shot…well, if you’ve ever seen
it, it certainly speaks for itself.
Despite what those who are paid to speak
might make up about Ball, it is clear that his
presence on the basketball court is extremely
valuable to his team. That fact can even be seen
to be represented in his one year with the Bruins.
While at UCLA, Lonzo’s natural instincts had
the clear ability to lead to efficient outcomes in
the game. In the one and only year that Ball
played for the Bruins, the team’s offensive
efficiency increased 49 spots. Teammates like
T.J. Leaf, Ike Anigbogu and Thomas Welsh,
who hadn’t been heard of before Ball took
the court, have not been heard from since. In
addition to putting up his own stats once he
became comfortable in the system, Lonzo made
everyone around him better with his tendency
to pass first and his brilliant court vision.
Sure, Ball may have struggled in his first few
months with the Lakers, but it’s important to
remember that even Kobe Bryant struggled while
showing flashes in his first year in Hollywood
as well. Lonzo will never be Kobe, but now that
he has settled in a bit, his value to the team
has presented itself in more ways than one.
“This is why I think if you asked anyone in
our organization all year about Lonzo’s shooting
struggles, we’d tell you, ‘He’ll be fine,’” Lakers
head coach Luke Walton explained of Ball’s
effect on the team. “We know how important
he is to us with the way he plays, the way he
pushes the ball, the way he just hits whoever
is open every time -- that’s contagious.”
Before Ball sprained his shoulder and was
forced to sit out a few games, the Lakers averaged
23.2 assists per game as a team through
their first 31 games. In one of the first games
without Lonzo against the Memphis Grizzlies,
the team recorded just 14 assists in a doubledigit
loss. Without their point guard, the Lakers
average less points per game, have a lower
field goal percentage and a lower three-point
percentage on offense. More notably, the team
is much worse on defense in Ball’s absence.
The Lakers allow nearly 107 points per game
with Lonzo and a staggering 124 without him.
When Ball is on the floor, opponents shoot close
to 44 percent from the field. Without him, they
shoot near 52 percent. With a record that is
well under 10 games below .500, it’s not like
the Lakers are necessarily setting the world on
fire when Ball is out there on the court either.
When he is, though, the team at least looks a
bit more competitive, even against some of the
better rosters from across the league.
The Lakers managed to attain their first win
of the season without Lonzo last Friday night
in a 99-86 victory over the Indiana Pacers that
saw Jordan Clarkson finish with one of the
best games of his career. That victory put the
Lakers at 1-8 without Ball -- a record that shed
light onto coach Walton’s previous statement:
“I think it’s much harder to win without Lonzo,
but it’s not impossible. There’s games that
we could have won he hadn’t played in. We
just didn’t finish them out.” Walton was right.
Not only did the Lakers win for the first time
without Ball against the Pacers, but they made
it two straight without their starting point guard
when Clarkson increased his value by putting
up 29 and 10 against the Knicks last Sunday
afternoon for the team’s second win in a row.
While his last name may allow others to simply
rush to judgment and accuse him of being the
worst player that the league has ever seen, it has
become clear that Lonzo is the heartbeat of the
Los Angeles Lakers, despite Clarkson’s recent
efficiency. Without him, Walton and the rest of
the Lakers coaching staff hope to instill a mindset
that will motivate others to make the extra
pass and get other teammates involved. When
Lonzo is in the game, however, those intangibles
simply happen because of his natural instincts.
Ball may not be the best player in the league and
the Lakers may still have one of the worst records
in the NBA, but numbers never lie. Those numbers
plainly state that the Lakers are a much better
team with their MVP -- and one of the most
underrated players in the league -- stepping
foot out on the basketball court.
– Aserrao6@yahoo.com •
See Eagles, page 6
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