Men's Hoopsters Ranked 4th in State, Stay Unbeaten at Home
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Canada (5-4) | 38 | 51 | 89 |
|
Citrus (8-2) | 51 | 50 | 101 |
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
East Los Angeles (6-2) | 30 | 43 | 73 |
|
Citrus (9-2) | 41 | 40 | 81 |
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Cuesta (2-6) | 35 | 51 | 86 |
|
Citrus (10-2) | 45 | 44 | 89 |
Citrus Men's Basketball maintained its undefeated record at home this season with a 3 game sweep at the Citrus Invitational last weekend, and moved into the #4 spot in the State of California according to the CCCMBA rankings.
The Owls started off the weekend on Friday with a solid win over Cañada College, 101-89. Miles Crawford was on fire for Citrus, sinking 29 points with a whopping 6 three pointers. Jeremy Smith chipped in a casual 30 points and Kyle Gray tallied 14 points and 8 rebounds. Citrus controlled the pace of the game from the tip off, and Coach Brett Lauer was able to utilize the depth of his bench from early on. In fact, the reserves would be responsible for 48 of the Owls' 101 points.
The second matchup of the weekend for Citrus was on Saturday versus East Los Angeles. ELAC came into the game ranked 4th in the state, stoking the Owls to put up their best fight. The teams would battle it out in a hotly contested game that ended up in Citrus' favor, 81-73. Standouts for the Owls included Austin Clark, who reigned fire down on the ELAC goal with an outstanding 8 three pointers and ended the night with 31 points and 5 rebounds. Jeremy Smith contributed a double double with 13 points and 11 assists, and Alexios Ziska dropped 13 points with 4 three pointers.
The last game of the weekend would be Sunday against Cuesta. Although Citrus had the clear advantage on paper, Cuesta put up its best fight of the tournament. But they would fall short, with Citrus grabbing the win 89-86 and ending the weekend undefeated. Kyle Gray put on a clinic for Cuesta, driving to the basket and finishing some stellar layups on hard fouls and converting the free throws for several three point plays. Gray ended the game with 23 points and 8 rebounds. Smith contributed 27 points and 3 three pointers.
Citrus moved up several spots in the state rankings after key wins over ranked teams in the past two weeks. The Owls play a home game this Saturday as it hosts LA Pierce, tipoff is at 5:00 PM.