ETIWANDA – The host Etiwanda High Eagles – with the best player in the program’s history looking on from court-side – handled their Baseline League opponent Friday night with the same approach that have served them so well this season:
Depth, defense and (scoring) balance.
The Eagles’ starters scored from six to 16 points, with their three top subs chipping in with a cumulative 26 points in their 82-60 victory over the Damien Spartans.
Etiwanda (No. 4 in the BurlisonOnBasketball Top 25) improved to 18-2 overall and 4-0 in league while Damien (No. 17) fell to 16-5 and 3-1.
Darren Collison, who led the Eagles to their first-ever CIF Southern Section title in 2002 before going on to sterling careers at UCLA and in the NBA, was on hand to watch “for, I’m sure, the first time since he was at UCLA,” Etiwanda Coach Dave Kleckner said afterward.
Austin Cook and Malik Thomas dropped in 3s on Damien’s first couple of possessions Friday night but, for the most part, those were just two among very few “clean looks” the Spartans’ shooters got over 32 minutes.
Senior Jaylen Clark (pictured), a transfer from Corona Centennial who became eligible for the team’s Dec. 30 third-place game with St. John Bosco in The Classic at Damien, scored nine first-quarter points for the Eagles.
But that’s all he scored, with three rebounds, three steals and two assists, as he went to the bench for the night after suffering a sprained left ankle with 3:37 to go in the second quarter.
“It’s not too bad,” he said afterward. “I probably won’t play, though, Saturday (in a showcase game against Fairmont Prep at Pasadena High) and against Chino Hills (on the road Tuesday night in another Baseline League game).”
Senior point guard Camren Pierce scored 12 of his team-high 16 points in the third quarter for the Eagles to go with five assists, two steals and one turnover.
“Camren is playing very well right now,” Kleckner said.
Junior Jahmai Mashack scored 10 of his 14 points in the second quarter for Etiwanda, while also chipping in with six assists, three rebounds and two steals.
Senior Brantley Stevenson came off the bench with 15 points four rebounds and three assists for Kleckner’s squad.
The 6-foot-3 Thomas, who had averaged 31.2 points per game over his previous 10 games, was “limited” to 26 Friday night while being checked by several defenders – most often Tyree Campbell – while sophomore R.J. Smith added 17 for the Spartans.
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