Each of San Marino High School’s 15 varsity boys’ basketball players made it onto the hardwood Monday night and 11 scored at least a point as the Titans breezed past Whitney by a final score of 81-48 in the home opener for the locals.
Andrew Quach led the way with 24 points, followed by Chuma Azinge with a dozen and Michael Shahan, who tallied nine. Azinge and Shahan posted back-to-back dunks, which brought the crowd to its feet during a second quarter that saw the Titans pull away from the Wildcats for a 43-22 halftime lead.
Jeff McDaniel came off the bench to score 8 points while Nathan Wang (6 points), Will Steele (5), Eric Fu (5), Devon Filos (4) and Cristian Mata, Lienard Hwang and Edison Leong, who scored three apiece.
The Titans started slowly and held only a one-point lead over the Wildcats after the first quarter, but San Marino pulled away with its pressure defense and never looked back.
“The story was in the collectiveness of the team,” said head Coach Mihail Papadopulos. “The way the team defended collectively as the game wore on. It was how guys off the bench like Jeff [McDaniel] came in instantly and contributed with great defense and 8 pts. When 11 out of 15 players find ways to contribute in the game by scoring and defending, good things are happening. We are proud of how the team competed tonight.”
The Titans will next play at the Tri-City Holiday Tournament in Carlsbad, opening up with Desert Christian on Wednesday, December 27 at 12:30 p.m.
San Marino does not play at home again until Wednesday, January 10 when South Pasadena comes calling for the Rio Hondo League opener.
