Hawks teams lead again, lose again

By Nick Pellegrino
Updated: January 5, 2019

2019 SAN DIEGO CHRISTIAN HAWKS BASKETBALL

East County Sports staff report

EL CAJON (1-6-2019) – San Diego Christian College seems to be faling into the same habit with its men’s and women’s basketball teams, holding an early lead, but then struggling in the second half.

The pattern continued Saturday (Jan. 5) as visiting Ottawa University (Ariz.) came to sweep the Hawks by 5 points each in a Golden State Athletic Conference doubleheader.

Men — Ottawa (Ariz.) 84, San Diego Christian 79: Spirit guard Dimetres Moore recorded 19 of her game-high 25 points in the second half, as Ottawa overcame a 10-point halftime deficit to tame the Hawks at Grossmont College.

Moore hit 11-of-14 shots from the floor despite playing just 24 minutes without foul trouble.

Ottawa (2-11 overall, -3 GSAC) utilized a 4-guard formation to give SDCC match-up problems, as guard Brian King added 5 assists, while another guard Marcus Williams went for 18 points and 7 assists, all combining for a 52-point second half.

Ottawa rallied to tie it at 52-all on a 201-0 run, capped by Leandro Amadir layin with 12:53 remaining, The coach then subbed all five players, with the next unit producing a go-ahead layin by Moore to secure the lead for keeps.

San Diego Christian guard Derek Novsek provided a game-best 26 points, but the Hawks shot a mere 37.5 percent (12-for-32) in the second half.
Others top scorers for SDCC (5-8, 1-3 GSAC) were Caeden Williams (18 points) and Jacob Short (11).

Women — Ottawa (Ariz.) 69, San Diego Christian 64: The Hawks dropped their 10th straight contest, including all five GSAC affairs, but worse, it was the first-ever GSAC triumph for the visiting Spirit in Saturday’s (Jan. 5) game at Grossmont College.

San Diego Christian (6-11 overall) started strong, building a 22-12 lead with a 10-point run to break an early tie. The margin grew to 11 before Ottawa made the first of two major drives.

In the second quarter, the Spirit produced a 19-6 to briefly take their first lead, then after several lead changes in the third period after the teams level at 53-all, Ottawa closed with a 15-10 run to win it, when forward Jorie Mayfield scored 123 of her team-high 18 points.

For the Hawks, guard Hannah Myers also scored 18 to share scoring honors, while Kaitlyn McKinney and Shayleen Toehe added 10 each.

For Ottawa (7-5, 1-4 GSAC), which shot 17-for-18 (94.4 percent) at the foul line, guard Alexis Smith added 16 points, along with 7 rebounds and 6 assists.

San Diego Christian next partakes on its Northern California road swing against a pair of NAIA nationally ranked programs, meeting No, 11 Menlo and No. 24 William Jessup.

The teams would counter runs in the third and give the lead back-and-forth until the game was level at 53-53 with under a minute left in the quarter. Jorie Mayfield hit a 3-pointer on the final possession of the quarter and then Celeste Lira added another to start the fourth and the Spirit had a 6-point cushion the never relinquished.

The Hawks would get within one on three separate occasions in the final quarter, including 65-64 with 21 second left before Bailey Osmer converted a pair of free throws and then after getting a defensive stop, Lira hit two free throws to seal the victory.

Mayfield led the Spirit with 18 points on 7 of 11 shooting and the one triple. She also made all three trips at the foul line while adding 11 rebounds for her third double-double of the season.

OUAZ ended the game shooting 34.9 percent from the field with eight makes from beyond the arc. The shot a school-record 94.4 percent at the foul line – 17 of 18 – to go with 22 points in the paint and 21 points from the 15 forced turnovers.

Alexis Smith added 16 points, seven rebounds, and six assists for the Spirit. Lira scored 12 points and joined Smith with a pair of 3-pointers.

San Diego Christian shot 40.7 percent and had a 42-38 advantage on the boards. Hannah Myers led the Hawks with 18 points.

EastCountySports.com