By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor If you wanted to see two “schools” represented in the stands and on the court, both Flintridge Prep and Poly made their administrators, parents and fans proud Wednesday night in a Prep League classic. Don’t let the final score fool you, Prep was not only in this game until very […]
By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor
If you wanted to see two “schools” represented in the stands and on the court, both Flintridge Prep and Poly made their administrators, parents and fans proud Wednesday night in a Prep League classic.
Don’t let the final score fool you, Prep was not only in this game until very late, they traded leads with the Panthers throughout.
Poly got some huge 3-point buckets late to hold off a very feisty Rebels team, 64-54, in what both sides called a ‘great game.’
Jackson Hayes led Poly with 16, including a 3-of-3 effort from behind the 3-point line. The 5-foot-7 guard also had four assists and three rebounds for the first-place Panthers.
But his late and clutch 3-point baskets were as big a key as any to the Panthers’ win.
“They hung with us until the last second,” Hayes said. “They got within 1 and we said to each other ‘let’s win this.’ It was a battle. The crowd gives us a lot of energy and helps pick up the intensity.”
Jake Althouse and Kendall Kikkawa lived up to their billing, as the Rebels two leaders and top scorers.
Althouse led all players with 21 points and 7 rebounds, and Kikkawa added 16 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds.
“I was real proud of how well we played and battled till the end,” Althouse said. “We made some big shots and so did they. This is the kind of game that proves we belong and we hope to get better from here. We’ll look forward to playing them at our place.”
John Genske has been as good on the basketball court as he was when he left the football field.
The 6-foot-3 guard scored 12 points, had a game-best 12 rebounds and dished out 5 assists.
Brendan Fong also stepped up with 13 points and 3 assists.
“Second half, we really got on the boards,” Genske said. “We came out of the locker room knowing we had to secure the boards first and look in the transition and stay in the half court (offense). We had the whole week off, so we needed to get our mind right the night before and really looked forward to this game.”
Poly was off last week with finals.
Cameron Wu had 9 for Prep and Beau Detchemendy had a 3-point bucket for the Rebels.
“I was happy with the way we fought back and never panicked,” Prep coach Garrett Ohara said. “It really showed we’re making improvements as a team to come in here and play as well as we did.”
Ryan Bowen, the senior guard who often times leads the Panthers in scoring was held to just 10 points on 4-of-14 shooting, but Bowen did hit two crucial 3-point baskets.
And Poly finished 9 of 17 from behind the 3-point arc.
The Rebels are now 8-8 overall and 3-2 in the Prep League. They will travel to Rio Hondo Prep on Friday at 7:30 to complete a 3-game road trip this week.
Poly improved to 14-3 and they won’t be out on the court until next Tuesday when they host AGBU of Canoga Park at 6:30.
Mateo Taylor chipped in with 8 points and 5 rebounds for Poly.
“I was real happy with the way we played,” Poly coach Brad Hall said. “This might not have been our best game, but we were balanced and when one guy isn’t shooting well, someone else steps up. John Genske really played well today and was a good leader as well, always encouraging his teammates.”
Box Score:
Flintridge Prep: 14-11-14-15-(54)
Polytechnic: 10-16-20-18-(64)
Prep Scoring: Jake Althouse 21, Kendall Kikkawa 16, Cameron Wu 9, Jonathan Le 5, Beau Detchemendy 3, Jonny Samuels 2.
Poly Scoring: Jackson Hayes 16, Brendan Fong 13, John Genske 12, Ryan Bowen 10, Mateo Taylor 8, Nick Tu 3, Nick Richard-Craven 2.
Prep League Standings:
Poly (14-3 overall, 5-0 in league)
Chadwick (10-10, 3-1)
Flintridge Prep (8-8, 3-2)
Rio Hondo Prep (8-11, 1-4)
Firebaugh (1-19, 0-5)
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