Boys Basketball: Unbeaten Immaculate Conception wins title

A huge third quarter from tournament MVP John Cheng propelled Immaculate Conception to a 71-64 victory Thursday over Westmont in the inaugural Immaculate Conception/Westmont Christmas Tournament.

Trailing 27-26 at halftime and 38-36 midway through the third quarter, the Knights (11-0) closed the period on a 15-3 run, with Cheng scoring seven points during the run and 12 in the quarter on his way to a game-high 24 points.

“We did a nice job moving the ball around against their zone, and that opened up the middle of the floor for me to drive to the basket,” said Cheng.

For the Sentinels (6-5), a short-handed bench (the team dressed just nine players) and early second-half foul trouble contributed to their defensive lapse down the stretch in the third quarter.

“We were without some of our guys tonight and after we got into foul trouble early in the third, we kind of lost our poise and weren’t nearly as aggressive getting over defensively,” said Westmont coach Craig Etheridge.

The loss overshadowed a strong game from the Sentinels’ Jean Pietrzak, an all-tournament selection, who scored a team-high 22 points and put constant pressure on the Knights with his outside shot.

That was part of the Knights second half success though, as they held Pietrzak to just 2-of-8 shooting and 0-of-2 from beyond the arc in the second half, after he poured in 14 points in the first half.

“We struggled a little defensively at the start, but in the second half we tried to shut down their best player and did a lot better job forcing them into bad shots,” said Cheng.

Joining Cheng in double figures for the Knights was all-tournament selection Demetrius Carr with 12, and Brian Harvey, who had 17 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

For the Sentinels, Kevin Good tallied 15 points, while Calvin Casper had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

The tournament finale was a match-up between the two host teams, and the Knights took home the title on their home floor in front of a spirited student section.

“This was the first time ever for this tournament, so it meant a lot to win it on our home court here for our coach, and in front of our fans,” said Cheng.

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