Boys’ basketball suffocates Temple City with overwhelming defense

Story by Gavin Bartolome & Owen Hou
Staff Writer

Photos by Sunny Choi & Zoe Chen
Staff Photographers

The Tigers smothered the Temple City Rams, winning 78-48 on Friday, Jan. 31. Generating a lead early on, the Tigers rode a sense of confidence and their enthusiasm to outmatch the Rams. Throughout the game, the Tigers demonstrated considerable growth, becoming an active defensive force to be reckoned with towards the end of the game that shut out any hope for the Rams to rebound.

Kicking off the first quarter, the Tigers opened up senior point guard Jacob Arias to casually bank a three-pointer. Although the Rams came back with a quick two-pointer, making the score 3-2, the Tigers did not let it dampen their engagement. 

From there, the Tigers launched their first onslaught against the Rams, scoring a monstrous 15 points with notable plays from Arias, who scored two more three-pointers to rapidly raise the score to 18-2 in the Tigers’ favor. This substantial 16-point lead the Tigers established brought a vital sense of confidence to the team. Not only were the Tigers bolstered, but their opponent was faced with a blunt strike to their game plan, quickly falling behind and embedding a sense of worry within.

Attempting to reset the Tigers’ momentum, the Rams called a timeout, allowing them to come back with five points and a regained sense of stability. Despite the Rams scoring the last points of the quarter, the Tigers held a firm grip on the match with an early 11-point lead at 18-7, setting up a promising game for the Tigers.

The second quarter commenced with a Tiger possession, but the ball was quickly lost to the Rams, who scored a quick three in an attempt to catch up. The Tigers still led 18-10. After this point, the both teams stood at a kind of standstill, scoring and defending for the first part of the quarter. The Tigers still held their original lead, but were unable to increase their points, as the Rams continued scoring proportionately while still holding their defense together.

However, this cycle eventually came to a close when senior forward Jack Madison scored a layup, making the score 29-17. The play let loose the floodgates of what was to come, and the Tigers shifted into another gear for the rest of the game. The team’s offense began to pick up, as they continued to apply constant pressure and quickly multiplied their points while still keeping a fortified defense. As the second quarter came to a close, the Tigers had expanded their lead even more, going into halftime 37-21.

Coming back into the game, the Tigers gained a noticeable upper hand in their defense. The team greatly improved at limiting pockets where Ram players could get open and began throwing up their hands to steal rebounds and shots to set up a quick offensive strike. With immediate two-pointers from both Madison and senior point guard Oni Balogun, the Tigers obtained a 20-point lead at 41-21, creating an undeniable sense of mastery over the game.

The Tigers’ growth in defense created opportune moments for their offense to continue digging into the Rams’ weak points. Chaining together passes, the Tigers easily opened up players such as senior point guard Miles Nowe, who scored two more three-pointers and proved himself to be a strong contributor during the Tigers’ pushes. After several minutes, the Tigers not only defended their lead, scoring back whatever the Rams made immediately after, but also widened it by six to 56-30. For the rest of the quarter, the Tigers fully controlled the gameplay, ending the third quarter with the Rams desperately trailing behind 68-32.

As the final quarter began, the Tigers still held a massive lead that all but guaranteed their victory. At first, they maintained their edge, defending and scoring as usual against the Rams. However, after the Tigers got to the 71-34 mark once junior shooting guard Rod Khollesi was fouled, things for the team took a turn as they substituted out their starting players. Taking advantage of the sudden shift, the Rams began to overwhelm the Tiger defense, scoring numerous shots and layups while the Tigers’ score remained static.

Eventually however, Khollesi scored two layups, bringing the score to 75-43. This seemingly brought the Tigers back to life, as they began their offensive efforts while revitalizing their defense. This allowed them to take back control of the game, closing the final quarter out with a 78-48 victory.

“Defense is our staple. I told them, we gotta pick it up. Pick the intensity up, lift, and move the ball a little more, but let’s try and contain them. We did a good job,” Head Coach Ernest Baskerville said.

After their close 80-75 victory against Blair on Monday, Feb. 3, the Tigers are now first in the Rio Hondo League and guaranteed a spot in the playoffs. South Pasadena will play their last league game against the San Marino Titans on Wednesday, Feb. 5.

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