Community College Basketball : El Camino Goes Into Final as Derek Jones Fouls Out

What Long Beach City College didn’t need Sunday night in its California Community College Tournament semifinal game against El Camino was more adversity.

But that’s exactly what the Vikings got in the fourth meeting of the season between the fierce Metropolitan Conference rivals. Long Beach, already hampered by injuries and fatigue, lost its best player, Derek Jones, early in the second half when the 6-foot-7 forward fouled out.

With Jones out, El Camino was able to coast to its 23rd consecutive win, 66-51, before a sparse crowd in Selland Arena.

The Warriors (32-1) will play San Jose City College tonight at 7:30 in the championship game. El Camino will be seeking its second title in five years.

Long Beach, which finished second to El Camino in conference and handed the Warriors their only loss of the season in a December tournament game, was tired even before Sunday’s tipoff. The Vikings came from behind to beat City College of San Francisco and Taft in the first two rounds of the tournament, and both of those victories were taxing.

In addition, Curtis Moore, Long Beach’s point guard, didn’t start because of a injured wrist and hip, and Stephen Hill was bothered by a chronic bad knee.

So, the Vikings’ only hope to split their season series against El Camino rested with Jones, who had scored 77 points in his first two tournament games. But Jones, who also had the flu, did not score until seven minutes were left in the first half and had only five points when he fouled out with 15:44 left.

At that point, El Camino, playing its best game of the tournament, was ahead, 30-24. With Jones out, the Warriors began to pull away. When Mark Wade made a short bank shot with 10 minutes left, El Camino led by 10 points, 44-34, and victory was almost certain.

El Camino, behind the play of center Dwayne Lewis and its tough defense, had a 28-18 lead at halftime. Lewis, set up often by the brilliant passing of point guard Wade, had 12 points in the first half and the Warriors’ man-to-man defense made Long Beach look miserable.

Accurate free-throw shooting helped El Camino clinch the win. At one point in the second half, the Warriors made 10-straight free throws.

Lewis led all scorers with 25 points and Todd Porter added 14 for El Camino. Hill had 20 points to lead Long Beach and Johnny Griffin had 13.

San Jose City 61, Riverside City 59--Karl Anderson’s 20-foot jump shot with two seconds left gave San Jose the semifinal victory over Riverside.