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January 27, 2024
By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X
HUNTINGTON PARK-As the Gahr High boys basketball team stepped out of Gateway League action, the one thing head coach Marcus Girley was hoping his players would get is confidence. Considering where the Gladiators are in the standings and what awaits them for the second round of league, beating up on Marquez High last Saturday brought the team some confidence.
The Gladiators never trailed against the CIF-Los Angeles City Section school, scoring the first seven points of the game, then scoring the first 11 points of the second quarter in a 62-35 victory, leaving Gahr with an 11-12 record.
“Even though we’ve played hard in some of those losses, even the last game; it might not show on the scoreboard, but we were pretty competitive, I thought, from beginning to end,” said Girley. “Certain teams are at a different level. So, it’s always good to get a win; a little bit of a cushion and let guys come off the bench to get minutes, get their rhythm and let everybody have a little bit taste of the action.”
The star of the first quarter was senior Jaison Joyce, who scored all his eight points and had two rebounds, including a basket with 2.2 seconds left to make it 15-5. Five different players would score in that 4:03 scoring run to begin the second quarter as Gahr was displaying some solid shooting, connecting on 13 of 21 shots from the field. Seven of the 11 players who saw action scored a basket in the half as Gahr was cruising to a 28-11 lead at the break.
If there was one negative from the first quarter, it was in the rebounding department where the team grabbed five boards. But that number increased dramatically as the game progressed, and when the contest was over, the visiting Gladiators had 35 rebounds with all 11 players collecting at least one of them.
Gahr extended its lead to 40-21 late in the third quarter on a basket from senior Ethan Carey, who was solid in the stanza, scoring nine points with a rebound and a block. While he didn’t score again, he was still effective in the fourth quarter with three more rebounds, two assists and a block, finishing the game with a team-high 13 points and seven rebounds. Senior Josh Pearson added 12 points, three rebounds and two steals while a trio of players pitched in with six points.
“We’re not built off one guy,” said Girley. “I know a lot of people think, ‘oh, this is the guy, this is the guy’. The way we are, it’s good and bad; we have a lot of able bodies. I have 10 to 12 guys who I can throw on the court who I trust will give me something. I would love to be a little bit more consistent…but just having that depth gives us that little bit of cushion if one of our main core guys are not playing well.”
Consecutive baskets from Elyjah Staples in the final minute of the third quarter brought Marquez to within 15 points. But Gahr sealed the game with a 9-0 run and didn’t allow the hosts to score consecutive points again.
“We’ve been talking to them about every game is a playoff game for us now,” said Girley. “There’s no room for error. We’ve lost some of those games where we were supposed to have won on paper, according to a lot of people. Now the margin for error is basically zero. So, the energy, I felt, in the first half didn’t seem like a team that was desperate. I just let them know it was now or never.”
Girley is talking about the last four games of the regular season, and if his team is to make the CIF-Southern Section playoffs, it needs to win at least three of those four games, which would leave the blue and yellow with a winning regular season, good enough to petition for an at-large berth if it can’t finish in the top three of league.
Gahr hosts fourth place Lynwood High on Friday, then travels to league-leading La Mirada High on Monday and last place Domingues High on Wednesday. Gahr has lost three of the first four league contests-11 to second place Mayfair High, five to Lynwood and 23 to La Mirada and has never been more than two games above or below the .500 mark.
“Just looking at the numbers and doing the math where we currently are [according to the] CIF [projections], at-large would be tough,” said Girley. “So, we’re fighting for third place. I want that to be the mentality of the kids where we just have to make sure we take care of our business against certain teams. Obviously, La Mirada is an elite team at a different level. You just want that game to be competitive with a chance going into the fourth quarter. But the other game we definitely have to pull them out.”
