BOYS: Eagles out-shoot Wolf Pack

By Ramon Scott
Updated: May 26, 2021

2020-21 EAST COUNTY PREP BOYS BASKETBALL

EastCountySports.com staff report

EL CAJON – The host Granite Hills Eagles got off to a hot start and won at home against the West Hills Wolf Pack, 70-64, in a Grossmont Hills League game on Tuesday evening.

Granite Hills improved to 5-3 in the GHL and 13-4 overall.

The Eagles got three big scoring efforts to out-pace the Wolf Pack, led by senior Deon Spear’s 25 points.

Brothers Tre and Derek Edmund both scored 18 points for the Eagles.

Granite Hills outscored West Hills 19-11 over the first eight minutes, as Tre Edmund, a junior, scored eight points.

The Eagles had a good night at the foul line, going 10-for-14, including 6-of-7 from Spear.

Spear and Derek Edmond, a freshman, each made a three in the third quarter, but the Wolf Pack were really firing from downtown in the period, as well.

Spear scored 15 points in the second half. He also had 10 rebounds.

Matt Keeley ruled the boards with 12 rebounds, and he also grabbed four thefts.

The Wolf Pack made four three-pointers in the third quarter, and three more in the fourth, but couldn’t overcome the deficit.

Ryan Mailloux made three treys in the second half.

“Tonight was tough for sure especially coming off the heartbreaker on Friday (a 49-47 home loss to Steele Canyon),” Mailloux said. “We kind of shot ourselves in the foot because these two games were very winable.

“Not having Brendan has been rough but I’ve just been trying to make the plays and the team has needed me to score more. We didn’t run out of gas, we just need to take care of the ball better because turnovers really killed us.”

Senior Kyle Dobyns led the Wolf Pack with 16 points, 14 of which came in the first half.

Ashton Avestro scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half for the Pack.

Cash Creighton knocked down a pair of threes in the second half for West Hills.

“We gave another good run but we were just short-handed without (injured starter) Brendan (Greene) tonight,” West Hills head coach Tim Barry said. “I thought Ashton Avestro, Ryan Mailloux, and Cash Creighton had nice games for us tonight.”

STEELE CANYON 57, GROSSMONT 52 – The Steele Canyon Cougars picked up a second straight great road victory, this time over the Grossmont Foothillers, on Tuesday evening and are looking sharp in the final week of the season and into the Division 3 playoffs.

After defeating West Hills last Friday in a battle of closely-rated teams in Santee, the Cougars kept in going at the Foothillers’ gym.

The Cougars have a chance to finish on a three-game winning streak when they host Helix this Friday in the season finale.

But Steele Canyon is hard to figure. The Cougs have won five straight on the road but dropped three consecutive league games at home, and this is very competitively balanced Grossmont Hills League.

The Cougars started out strong against the Foothillers and led 19-13 after the first quarter. Steele Canyon led 32-25 at halftime.

Angel Raposa hit three three-pointers in the first quarter for SC and finished with 16 points.

Camrien Hunt added 12 points for the Cougars.

A.Z. Simpson came home with 10 points for Steele.

The Cougars did well at the line in the fourth, going 7-for-9, including a conversion basket by sophomore Alex Jenkins, who was fouled on a made field goal.

Joey Cleaves finished with eight points for Steele Canyon (5-4, 11-9), which kept hope alive for the league championship.

Grossmont got hot late and made the most of it, as Exavier Williams and Trenton Giles made three-pointers in the fourth.

Sergio Franso led Grossmont with 10 points, while Giles finished with nine markers.

Aaron Velasco had a three in the third for GHS (3-6 GHL, 12-10).

MOUNT MIGUEL 78, EL CAJON VALLEY 35 – The Matadors won again in the Grossmont Valley League, jumping out to a 16-11 lead after the first quarter and continuing on for a 31-20 lead at halftime.

The Matadors really turned it up from there to improve to 11-7 overall.

Mount Miguel reportedly trails Monte Vista by 1 1/2 games in the Grossmont Valley League standings with one game remaining in the regular season for the Monarchs but the published results for the Matadors appear to be incorrect, or incomplete at best.

The Matadors defeated Santana, 72-70 in Santee back on May 18, however, a May 4 contest in Spring Valley may have gone unreported, or perhaps moved to another date, however, the season ends of Friday night.

Mount Miguel is scheduled to play at El Capitan on Friday, while Monte Vista will play these Braves, who have one win on the season, which came at El Capitan.

Monte Vista’s only loss was to the Matadors, as the two contenders split their season series.

The Matadors won for the second consecutive day following a 57-50 non-league home win against Morse on Monday.

SANTANA 47, EL CAPITAN 34 – Ethan Wolchko scored 21 points for the Sultans in the Grossmont Valley League road win over the Vaqueros on Tuesday evening.

Santana was scoring early, jumping out to an 18-8 lead in the first quarter behind 10 points from Wolchko. He had a pair of threes in the contest.

Also, Sultan senior Carson Burton continues to show why he is one of the conference’s best passers.

Senior Kienan Cates had six points in the first quarter for Santana.

Santana senior Alden Rasmussen scored six of his 10 points in the second quarter, as the Sultans led 24-14 at halftime.

El Capitan opened the third quarter strong to bring it to within 29-22.

Santana senior Aiden Baker hit a three-pointer in the third quarter to help the Sultans extend to a 36-24 lead after three quarters.

Daisean Desinor had 14 points for the Vaqueros.

CATHEDRAL CATHOLIC 71, CHRISTIAN 16 – The Dons won against the Patriots in a rather lopsided result on Tuesday.

Cathedral Catholic (14-2) for 13 points and nine rebounds from Dillon Wilhite.

Alex Wade had 12 points, six assists, and four steals for the Dons.

Shea Fitzgerald finished with 11 points for Cathedral.

ORANGE GLEN 87, FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 44 – Orange Glen, ranked 13th in the county, practically lapped the Knights in Escondido on Tuesday.

Junior Joseph Hankins led Foothills Christian (7-15) with 16 points, including a pair of three-pointers, while junior teammate Anthony Lamber added 11 points.

The Knights were outrebounded 34-11.

LIBERTY CHARTER 69, MOUNTAIN EMPIRE 32 – The Lions are sure to be rolling into the postseason aiming for a league sweep of its opponents following the home win over the RedHawks on Monday.

Liberty Charter improved to 16-6 overall and 9-0 in league play.

The Lions are one of the top contenders for the Division 5 title starting next week.