Anticipation of ‘going off to battle’ hung in the air as the gymnasium filled with fans Tuesday evening. After warm-ups, JJ Gentry (father of Caden) sang an inspired rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. Coronado and Pt Loma were ready for the rematch. From the opening tip off, the game was physical. Both teams started off slow, shutting each other out in the first couple of minutes. DJ Jackson’s two free throws opened the scoring. A nifty pass by Myles Manning to a cutting Bruen Roulier got an easy bucket. DJ picked up his second foul midway through the first quarter and had to sit. David Rusu, who was a spark plug all night, stole the ball and fed Myles Manning who pulled up from 10 feet to drain a jumper. Then it was Caden Gentry’s turn to nail a long three pointer putting the Islanders up 11-6 at the end of the first quarter.
Emotions were high on both sides while the Coronado student section was doing their SDSU “Show” impersonation.
Rusu scored on two straight drives, one of which left him sprawled on the court, bleeding from his chin. But Point Loma made a run and with 4 minutes left in the half and took their first lead 16-15. The physical play continued with a lot of bodies hitting the floor, but not many fouls being called. At the 3 minute mark the referees stopped play and brought the coaches and captains to center court to settle things down. That’s when Coronado’s offense started to click. Jackson made a strong move inside for two. Myles Manning popped a 3 from the top of the key. DJ scored on another strong put-back and Myles hit a second 3 pointer to put Coronado up 25-22 at halftime.
The game was back and forth early in the second half. DJ Jackson took over underneath, grabbing rebounds and being fouled. The rough play continued as the pace picked up. Caden Gentry drained another three pointer, then came back with a nice assist to DJ inside for 2 more. A steal by Manning and two more by David Rusu had the Islanders fast breaking and going to the free throw line. Just when Coronado started to pull away, Pt. Loma fought back. When Jackson had to sit after picking up his 3rd foul, the Pointers scored a couple easy baskets to close the third quarter trailing by 6, 36-30.
For the first time in a while, Coronado was in a close game during the 4th quarter. DJ followed up on a nice drive by Gentry for 2. Roulier made a quick cut from the top of the key, was fouled hard and converted both free throws. An acrobatic drive and reverse lay-up by Rusu and a couple more free throws by Roulier pushed the lead to 10. Point Loma caused a couple of turnovers with their full court press, but Coronado kept the pressure up by taking the ball to the basket and drawing fouls. Rusu’s feed to Jackson underneath produced the game’s only dunk which had the fans screaming and thankful for an 8 point lead. Free throws by Rusu, Jackson, Gentry and Roulier finished off the Pointers. Final score 56 to 48.
Jackson led the scoring with 17 points while Rusu added 13 and Roulier tossed in 11.
This Saturday at 6:30pm Coronado takes on Christian High in a game that should be just as exciting. The Islanders then finish off Central League play next week with games Tuesday (2/14, 5:15pm) at Crawford and Thursday (2/16, 5:00pm) home against University City.
