Cerritos close out the season with a close victory over El Camino on Feb. 17 with the final score of 63-57.
This game was close all game long with 11 ties and 11 lead changes.
Although Cerritos came out with the win it was still a rough night shooting for them as they shot for 39% from the field and 20% from the three-point line.
This was a game where El Camino shot more efficiently game than Cerritos going 45% from the field 33% from three and a great 80% from the free throw line.
It was Cerritos who made the better plays in the final minutes of the game that helped them come on top.
With nine minutes left on the clock, the game was tied and Cerritos finished strong outscoring El Camino 13-7 which was the difference maker in this game.
The Falcons were led by leading scoring Gorden Boykins with 18 points on efficient shooting only missing one shot for the whole game.
Boykins went 7-8 from the field, 2-3 from three-point range, and a perfect 2-2 from the free throw line.
El Camino made some crucial mistakes turning over the ball 14 times and Cerritos took advantage of those turnovers scoring 14 points off of those turnovers.
Cerritos also outrebounded El Camino 30-33 and outscored El Camino in the paint 22-30.
Cerritos got solid support from their bench scoring 19 off the bench but El Camino’s bench support dominated as they scored 34 points out scoring Cerritos by 15 points.
If someone didn’t watch the game and just saw the box score they would think El Camino won this game but it was the turnovers committed and the final minutes of the game that helped Cerritos.
The leading scorer from El Camino was Billy Ray Barnes III who scored 18 points off the bench with an efficient 6-9 from the field and 6-7 from the free throw line.
“Really just you know just playing my game, you know put the work in, I just come out to hoop,” Gorden Boykins said after his solid performance, “If they tell me to shoot the ball I’m gonna shoot the ball a lot more.”
Boykins also said the mentality going into the playoffs is must win, no time for errors and we gotta win.
“Well I think we picked up our defensive pressure and forced them to miss some shots,” Coach May said after the win.
“We were able to get to the basket, drive to the basket and get some better looks to pull away for a little bit but they are a good team that plays solid and plays together and it took a good team effort tonight.”
Coach May also talked about playoff preparation, “We gotta be on point, we can’t take plays off, we gotta play with effort and intensity and you know one game we gotta be ready to go.”
The Falcons win against El Camino but now it’s time to play mistake-free basketball as they head into the playoffs with a win-or-go-home situation.
