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Sports

Bulldogs Boys Basketball Wins Big in Season Opener

Pasadena tips off the 2010-2011 season with a blowout victory over outsized Arleta

If a team's opening performance is any indication of potential success, then the Pasadena boys basketball team is undoubtedly headed for another dominant season.  Hosting the annual Rose City Roundball Classic, the Bulldogs were hardly hospitable, beating Arleta 84-17 in an exhibition opener.

"We obviously had more overall talent, but I'm really happy with the effort," Pasadena coach Tim Tucker said.  "We executed and when we could've gotten away with being sloppy, we kept playing tough."

The Bulldogs started the game hot on both offense and defense.  Point guard Austin Daniels constantly pushed the tempo leading to easy buckets for Todd Lewis Jr. and Brandon Jolley.

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Six-foot-9 center Steven Adams suffocated the Mustangs defensively, and the Bulldogs led 15-0 with four minutes left in the first quarter after a fastbreak dunk from Lewis.

"The first team played really well together," said Jolley, who is the only sophomore on the Pasadena roster. "It was encouraging."

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The Mustangs managed to catch their breath and score a few baskets to close out the first quarter, but offensive rebounding by the Bulldogs and sustained hot shooting by Lewis kept the game well out of reach.  Adams had nine rebounds at halftime as Pasadena rode a 31-6 rebound advantage to 40-11 lead.

If the story of the first half was rebounding then the story of the second was turnovers. Pasadena had seven steals in the third quarter alone, leading to easy baskets for Lewis and Blake Hamilton off the bench.

"I told the team to come out in the second half as if it was a tie game," Tucker said.  "We continued to play strong and I was able to get the bench a lot of minutes. The bench played well."

The starting team was subbed out at the 2-minute mark of the third quarter and by the middle of the fourth quarter Tucker had rotated all his players in.

Lewis led all scorers with 15 points.  Adams had eight points and 11 rebounds.  Nick Holden had eight points and eight rebounds.  Daniels had four assists while Jolley contributed eight points and two assists.

Pasadena will play its next game of the Rose City Roundball Classic on Thursday, against Sylmar at 8 p.m.

Team 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. Final Arleta 4 7 6 0 17 Pasadena 26 16 31 13 84
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