Kyle Geer had 18 pts and 14 rebs, and Luis Medearis had 15 pts as #14 Cerritos won a key South Coast South showdown against visiting LA Harbor Friday in Norwalk.
Cerritos (13-9, 1-0) trailed by 7 in the first half and by 3 at the break, but took a 44-42 lead on a Medearis 3-pointer with just under 12 minutes to go and managed to hold on the rest of the way. The lead reached as many as 10 points, but Harbor cut the deficit to just 4 points with about 90 seconds left before the Falcon defense secured the win.
LA Harbor (11-11, 1-1), widely expected to be the top threat to Cerritos in the SCC-South this year, saw the hosts jump out to an early 13-7 lead. But then the Seahawks tied the score at 18 and took a 21-20 lead on a 3-pointer by Paulo Hugo midway through the first half. The lead grew to 7 points after a 3-pointer by Dominique Street, making it 30-23 with 5:53 left in the half.
Cerritos cut the deficit to just three points to trail, 36-33, at the half, and scored the first 4 points of the second half to take a 37-36 lead on a short jumper by Geer. Harbor went back in front on a 3-point play by Dushone Brown, taking a 39-37 lead, but Medearis' three put the Falcons back on top. Then a traditional 3-point play by Jonathan Brown gave Cerritos a 47-42 lead with 11:18 to play.
After Harbor cut the deficit to 3 points to trail, 54-51, Cerritos scored the game's next 7 points to take a 10-point lead, the largest of the game for either team. During the run, Dushone Brown picked up his 4th foul of the game as well. Geer scored off a pass from Brian Nebo to make it 61-51 with just over 4 minutes left.
Harbor rallied one final time, getting with 7 points when Dushone Brown made a 3-pointer with just under 3 minutes left. Then Brandon Tisdale was fouled and awarded 2 free throws for the Seahawks with 1:39 left. He made the first to bring Harbor within 6 points. He missed the second, but Dushone Brown grabbed the rebound and scored to cut the margin to 4 points at 65-61.
But that was as close as Harbor would get. Jonathan Brown split a pair of free throws for Cerritos with 1:20 left to make it 66-61. Then Geer scored on a putback of his own miss to make it 68-61. Jonathan Brown and Khalid Washington each split a pair of free throws in the final 17.4 seconds to make it 70-61 and clinch the win for Cerritos before Dushone Brown scored on a dunk for Harbor just before the final horn to close out the scoring.
For Cerritos, Geer had a huge night with 17 pts, 14 rebs and 4 steals. Medearis had 15 pts, including 3 three-pointers, plus 3 rebs and 3 steals. Jonathan Brown came off the bench for 9 pts and 3 asts, and Elvis Okafor had 7 pts and 9 rebs in a reserve role. Nebo had 8 pts, 7 rebs, 4 asts and a steal.
For Harbor, Dharion Tanner had a game-high 18 pts and a team-high 14 rebs for a double-double. Dushone Brown had 17 pts and 7 rebs despite foul trouble, and Street had 10 pts, including 3 three-pointers. Larry Taylor had just 2 pts but dished out a game-high 7 asts.
box score
Friday, January 22, 2016 - 7 pm
at Cerritos College, Norwalk
South Coast Conference - South Division
LA Harbor Seahawks 63:
1-Larry Taylor, PG - 1/6 fg, 1 reb, 7 ast, 2 pf, 2 pts
3-Dominique Street, SG - 3/7 fg, 1/2 ft, 5 pf, 10 pts
5-Chad Tiradeau, C - 2/8 fg, 3 reb, 1 ast, 2 blk, 1 stl, 3 pf, 4 pts
10-Dushone Brown, PF - 7/12 fg, 2/2 ft, 7 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl, 4 pf, 17 pts
15-Dharion Tanner, SF - 7/14 fg, 2/3 ft, 14 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 3 pf, 18 pts
22-Jerran Maybee, F - 2/5 fg, 8 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 2 pf, 4 pts
32-Brandon Tisdale, G - 2/4 fg, 1/3 ft, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 pf, 5 pts
55-Cory Nomaaea, F - 0/1 fg, 1 reb, 3 pf, 0 pts
2-Paulo Hugo, G - 1/3 fg, 1 reb, 2 ast, 1 pf, 3 pts
team rebounds: 3
Totals: 25/60 fg (.417), 6/10 ft (.600), 40 reb, 13 ast, 5 blk, 4 stl, 24 pf, 63 pts
3-pt fg (7): Street 2, Tanner 2, Brown, Hugo
Fouled Out: Street 9.6 seconds left
Turnovers (17): Brown 4, Tanner 3, Taylor 2, Street 2, Maybee 2, Tisdale 2, Hugo 2
Cerritos Falcons 70:
3-Brian Nebo, SF - 3/8 fg, 1/5 ft, 7 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl, 8 pts
4-Luis Medearis, SG - 5/16 fg, 2/2 ft, 3 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl, 15 pts
5-Tyler Payne, PG - 1/2 fg, 1 reb, 2 ast, 3 pf, 2 pts
13-Kyle Geer, PF - 8/21 fg, 1/8 ft, 14 reb, 1 ast, 4 stl, 4 pf, 17 pts
33-Jamal Watson, G - 3/5 fg, 4 reb, 1 pf, 6 pts
1-Khalid Washington, F - 1/4 fg, 2/4 ft, 6 reb, 2 ast, 2 pf, 4 pts
12-Elvis Okafor, C - 3/6 fg, 1/4 ft, 9 reb, 2 blk, 2 pf, 7 pts
21-Jonathan Brown, G - 2/5 fg, 5/9 ft, 2 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 9 pts
2-Jay Merriweather, F - 0/1 fg, 2/2 ft, 2 reb, 1 stl, 1 pf, 2 pts
team rebounds: 4
Totals: 26/68 fg (.382), 14/34 ft (.412), 52 reb, 13 ast, 3 blk, 10 stl, 15 pf, 70 pts
3-pt fg (4): Medearis 3, Nebo
Turnovers (12): Geer 4, Merriweather 2, Nebo, Medearis, Payne, Watson, Washington, Okafor
Halftime Score: LA Harbor 36, Cerritos 33
Updated Records: Cerritos (#14-South) 13-9, 1-0 in SCC-South; LA Harbor 11-11, 1-1 in SCC-South
Cerritos led 13-7 early. LA Harbor led by 7 at 30-23 with 5:53 left in the 1st half.
Cerritos took the lead for good at 44-42 and led by 10 at 61-51 with just over 4 minutes left.
Harbor cut the margin to 4 with about 1:30 left but never got any closer.
