SANTA ANA, Calif. -- There was 6:51 left in the game, and Arizona-bound guard Gabe York stood at the Orange Lutheran defensive end of the court. Hands on his hips, he looked up at the scoreboard and saw his Lancers trailing 46-35 to Long Beach Poly in the NIKE Extravaganza on Saturday night at Mater Dei.
He was having one of those nights. One that he hopes to forget.
It started from the very beginning.
The Lancers had more turnovers (10) than they had field goals (3). York finished with five points in the half, but they all came from the free throw line. He missed all seven of his field goal attempts. As a team, the Lancers were just 16% from the field in their 67-45 loss to Long Beach Poly.
"It was frustrating in the beginning," said York. "Overall it was an OK game for me."
Chris Croom face guarded York for nearly the entire first 16 minutes of the game.
"We were tough with him. We made catches tough for him in the first half. I think we have big enough bodies that when he drives they contested shots," said Long Beach coach Sharrief Metoyer.
York, who finished with 23 points, didn’t make his first shot from the field until the 6:51 mark of the third quarter. He was five of 19 from the field.
Meanwhile, the Jackrabbits and forward Roschon Prince in particular, started to find their groove.
Poly opened the second half on a 15-4 run.
Prince, who was limited in the first half with three fouls, took over scoring eight of 10 points for the Jackrabbits, including a steal and a breakaway jam that excited the crowd at the Meruelo Athletic Center.
He later got even more creative, throwing the ball off of the backboard, getting his own rebound, and putting it in off of the glass for two of his game-high 25 points to give the Jackrabbits a 50-35 lead.
Everything seemed to go the Jackrabbits’ (21-1) way in the second half. Prince drove to the basket and had the ball slip out of his hands and right into his teammate R.J. Strickland’s hands for an easy layup to put the Jackrabbits up 55-37.
Strickland finished with 21 points for the Jackrabbits, who shot 54% from the field in the second half.
"We were a little bit more determined on both ends of the floor. Offensively I didn’t think we were determined (in the first half). I think the bright lights and the big stage got us and we were a little jittery and then in the second half we were a little more determined," said Poly head coach Sherrief Metoyer.
With losses last month outside of Trinity League play to La Verne Lutheran and Loyola, the Lancers (14-10) were hoping the third time would be the charm in 2012, but it was not to be.
"You got to play at a really high level for a whole game to play with a team like Long Beach Poly and we just haven’t been able to do it," said Orange Lutheran head coach Chris Nordstrom, who's Lancers finished the game shooting 25% from the field.
Spending last season as the team that most other teams were after, this season the Jackrabbits have surprised most by winning 21 of their first 22 games to start this season.
"Coach says it was a good statement because last year we came (to the NIKE Extravaganza) with a high ranking and we loss (to Bishop Gorman) but this year we’re showing people that we deserve our ranking and beating a team like OLu by this much, I think it was a big statement," said Prince.
