EAGLES HOLD ON AT SUNSET

Southwest, up by 24 points with 9:30 left in the game, held on for a regular season-opening win over host Sunset, 62-59. Gio Gonzalez had 11 of his team-high 20 points in the first quarter as the Eagles jumped out to a 20-12 lead. An air-tight defense held the Knights to just one second period basket, with 2:45 on the clock, as Southwest took a 35-15 lead to the locker room. The Eagles extended their margin to 50-26 before the Knights found their 3-point shooting touch. Twelve Sunset 3-pointers in the second half made things scary as the previously tough defense started giving the Knights open looks. Offensively, Southwest failed to take advantage of the fact that there is no shot clock in high school basketball. In fact, as their lead began to evaporate, the Eagles played as if there was an 8-second shot clock. At no point did Sunset have a chance to tie the game. They cut it to three with 1 second left and Southwest inbounded the ball to end the game. The score was as close as it was due to the laughingly incompetent officiating job by Lenny Booth and Madison Porter. At the 1:19 mark of the third quarter, Sunset had 6 players on the court at the same time but the required technical foul was not assessed. Even though the Eagles' coaching staff was yelling at the zebras to count the players, and even though a Sunset player ran off the court with no one running on to replace him, Booth and Porter were clueless. Despite the fact that both officials are elderly, meaning they have been doing this for a long time, neither one is aware of the rule that players cannot report in as substitutes without first being beckoned by the officials. Gonzalez also had 7 rebounds and 3 steals while Ray Lleonart added 10 assists. The scoring:
Gonzalez 20
Juachon 16
Vargas 9
Rams 7
Godoy 6
Lleonart 3
Blanco 1