GHS gears for showdown after two league wins

Gardena High’s boys’ basketball team remained unbeaten in the Marine League after a pair of wins over Wilmington Banning and Long Beach Rancho Dominguez Prep last week. At Gardena on Jan. 26, the Panthers crushed the Pilots 79-26. At Rancho Dominguez, Gardena topped the improved Lobos 73-61. Against Rancho Dominguez, the Panthers started off well with an early 25-9 lead but the Lobos started to make a game out of it — for awhile. Gardena led 38-24 at halftime but Rancho Dominguez managed to get within a close as nine points early in the fourth quarter. Key baskets and free throws from Quincy Phillips and Eric Click sealed the game for the Panthers, who improved to 6-0 in Marine action and 19-5 overall. With Rancho Dominguez holding Gardena’s top scorer, Chase Williams, to only six points, Click and Phillips stepped in and made key baskets. Click led the Panthers to a game-high 32 points, while Phillips added 19. “Click made a lot of jump shots,” Gardena head coach Ernie Carr said. “We were sloppy.” It was just the fourth time this season that the Panthers allowed more than 50 points to an opposing team and their first win of the season in doing so. The three other teams that scored more than 50 and defeated Gardena included Venice (59-39 in the Mira Costa Pacific Shores Tournament), San Pedro Rolling Hills Prep (79-39 in the Mira Costa Pacific Shores Tournament) and Crescenta Valley (76-37 in the San Gabriel Thanksgiving Classic). All of those teams are highly ranked in the CIF-Los Angeles City and Southern Sections. Adrione Marcus led the Lobos, who are 2-4 in league, with 19 points. Banning was no match for the Panthers, who surged out to a 44-14 halftime lead and never let up from there. In fact, Gardena finished off the Pilots outscoring them 20-2 in the fourth period. Williams led Gardena with 28 points, two more than the entire Banning team combined, followed by Click with 22. The Panthers have two home games this week. After hosting Carson on Wednesday, Gardena will show down with second place Narbonne of Harbor City Friday at 4 p.m. The Gauchos are 5-1 in league, losing their only game to the Panthers 53-49 on Jan. 19 at Narbonne. Gardena hosts Rancho Dominguez next Wednesday at 4 p.m.