The562’s coverage of Cabrillo Athletics is sponsored by the Cohn Family.
The562’s coverage of Jordan Athletics is sponsored by former LBUSD superintendent Chris Steinhauser and the Timu Foundation.
Friday night’s meeting between Cabrillo and Jordan was a game of runs, with both teams trading punches throughout the night.
The biggest and most decisive run belonged to the host Jaguars, who built a 15-point lead in the third quarter and held on down the stretch for a 59-53 victory.
Cabrillo held a big advantage at the free throw line, where they made 20 of their 26 attempts, while Jordan was just 8-for-12 on their end of the floor.
Senior point guard MJ Reed made half of those free throws for Cabrillo on his way to a team-high 17 points. Kinsey Obue added 15 down low and Ului-He-Lotu Eteaki scored 13.
“That is how the game presented itself,” said Reed. “I look for what I can get, and in this game, I got free throws. I just had to read the game.”
The game was headed in the wrong direction for Cabrillo midway through the second quarter, as the visiting Panthers opened up a 21-13 lead behind junior Aaron Chiles. He scored eight of his game-high 22 points in the second, and gave the Panthers their biggest lead with five minutes til the half.
Unfortunately for J-Town, their offense went ice cold, allowing Cabrillo to break off a 14-0 run. Five different Jaguars scored during that spurt, capped off by an And-1 for Reed to put the Jags up by six.
“It’s crazy important,” said Reed of getting a variety of players into the scoring column. “It’s not a one-man army, all nine of our guys can go. Once you give them the ball, they’re not robots, they can go.”
Cabrillo would hold a 29-23 advantage at halftime, and the lead continued to grow while Jordan’s shots weren’t falling. During a 10-minute stretch from the second and third quarters, Jordan was held to just two points. In that drought, Cabrillo turned their eight-point deficit into a 38-23 lead, scoring the first nine points of the second half.
Once Jordan got their shots falling again, they were able to claw back into the game at the midway point of the fourth quarter. A 12-2 run to open the final frame cut the Cabrillo lead to just four points with 4:10 on the clock, as an Alvino Duncan three-pointer made it 47-43 Jags.
After a timeout, Cabrillo responded with a 7-0 run and some much-needed breathing room, and they were able to see out the win from there.
“We were able to use a couple of ball fakes and get the ball inside, and then got a couple of their key players in foul trouble,” explained Cabrillo head coach Chris Spencer. “Then they played some guys that they didn’t normally have, and some lineups I don’t think they normally play, and it made for us to be able to go on a couple of runs.”
Duncan was a big spark off the bench for Jordan, finishing with 15 points, but Cabrillo’s 25-2 stretch spanning over halftime proved too much to overcome for J-Town.
Both teams will be back in action on Monday night. Cabrillo (9-7, 3-1) will be at Millikan while Jordan (11-8, 2-2) will be hosting Long Beach Poly at Browning High.
