La Salle Boys Basketball Falls in League Opener

The well ran dry on ’s outside shooting Wednesday night as the Lancers fell to Bishop Amat by a score of 56-42 in their first game of Del Rey League play.

“We struggled on the offensive end,” La Salle coach Steve Goldstein said. “That and too many turnovers let them get a separation.”

Early on both teams tried to establish themselves in the paint, but neither found an edge. Instead, sophomore point guard Israel Lacey became the offensive catalyst for La Salle, scoring 11 of his team-high 14 points in the first half. Lacey was countered by Bishop Amat guard Jeff Davis who scored 12, including a half-court buzzer-beater to close out the first quarter.

Down by one, Bishop Amat went on a 9-0 run at the beginning of the second quarter using effective passing and rotation to set up open shots. La Salle responded by trying to push the ball into the paint and letting senior center Gary Mkrtichyan and senior forward Kishon Sanders work for shots under the basket. However, La Salle could only inch back to a 29-26 deficit at halftime.

“We had an advantage around the basket,” Goldstein said. “We just weren’t exploiting it enough.”

The second half was defined by two key factors, both of which went against La Salle.

First, Bishop Amat changed its offense from a down low attack to a more open style. Amat players stationed themselves at the very edges of the court drawing the La Salle man-to-man defense out to them. Amat guard Daniel Rodriguez would then attack match up (for 10 of his game-high 17 points) or dish off to a cutting Davis and forward Tyler Hill. Amat’s lead was soon over 10 points and the team never looked back.

The second factor was La Salle’s inability to hit an outside shot in the second half. Sanders would add six points, but he fouled out in the fourth quarter. After a hot start, Lacey scored only three more points and scoring leader Ian Schuler was held to just two points for the entire game.

“That’s been our downfall all year,” Goldstein said. “We go through swells where we just can’t put the ball in the basket.”

With the loss, La Salle’s record falls to 11-6 on the season. The Lancers next face Besant Hill on Saturday as part of the “War On The Floor” tournament, before their next league game on Jan. 19 against Serra.