On the back of winning the San Dimas Tournament over the weekend, the San Marino boys’ basketball team extended their unbeaten start against Alhambra High on Monday night.
It’s been a busy few days for the Titans, who have played five games in the last seven days.
But San Marino didn’t show any signs of slowing against Alhambra, jumping out to a double-digit lead in the first quarter to hold on to a 66-39 nonleague victory.
The Titans improved to an overall 9-0 record on the season with the win on Monday.
“I’m not sure if we’ve ever been 9-0 in my time at San Marino, so it’s a really nice start for our group,” San Marino coach Mihail Papadopulos said. “We’re proud of them. It’s a hard-working, competitive group of guys who just like to play a lot of basketball together.”
The Titans opened Monday’s contest with a 10-0 run, and closed the opening quarter with a 21-7 lead, led by eight points from senior guard Bobby Reyes.
Alhambra pulled within 14 points in the second quarter, but San Marino’s lead stayed intact with a 39-16 advantage at the half.
The Moors (2-4 overall) continued to claw away at the Titans’ lead, but San Marino stood strong to maintain a 49-26 difference at the end of the third.
The Titans stretched the lead to as much as 25 points at the start of the fourth quarter before they capped the scoring with 1:10 remaining in the game.
“We just have to keep on playing how we’re playing,” said Reyes of the unbeaten start. “Share the basketball. When we share the basketball, it’s kind of hard to stop us.”
Reyes filled up the stat sheet Monday night with 10 points, three blocks, four rebounds and three steals.
“We have a good momentum right now,” Reyes added. “We can’t get down if we lose one or two. We just have to keep on going.”
San Marino, the No. 2-ranked team in the latest CIF Southern Section Division III-A polling, begins Rio Hondo League contention with a road trip to South Pasadena on Dec. 13.
“Nothing is really going to change in terms of how we play,” said Papadopulos of league action. “We’re just trying to play as hard as we can — trying to get better every time we’re out here. We’re just trying to share the basketball, put a great effort defensively and we’re going to go out there and compete as well as we can in the league.”
SAN DIMAS TOURNAMENT
Reyes was named most valuable player at the San Dimas Tournament after San Marino defeated Bosco Tech 74-57 to be crowned champions on
Saturday.
Titans senior Jayden Tse scored a team-high 21 points in the tournament finale, and senior Adrian Huang added 17 points. San Marino junior Casey Chan added 13 points, and Reyes came away with 10 points and six rebounds in the title game.
Tse and Chan were selected to the all-tournament team.
“It was a good title, but it all started with my teammates,” Reyes said. “My teammates really lifted me up, especially during the championship. Adrian, Casey, Jayden. Jayden went on a big run. We pulled through.”
San Marino opened the tournament with a 67-52 win against Don Lugo and followed that up with a 68-63 victory over Walnut.
The Titans had to battle to advance to the title game, outlasting Glendora 70-64 in double overtime.
Reyes spearheaded San Marino with 20 points, while Tse added 19 points with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to send the game to overtime. Chan added 12 points and brought down five rebounds.
“You have to have a lot of grit to compete against Walnut, then Glendora, then have to face off against Bosco Tech the following day after a double-overtime game,” Papadopulos said.
“There’s quite a lot of grit. Our guys have not just toughness on the court, but mental toughness. To be able to push yourself through that, I was really proud of the way they competed, especially on Saturday, after that kind of game on Friday.”
First published in the Dec. 7 issue of the San Marino Tribune
