Sanders Leads Westchester Over Fremont, 58-47, in Opener

In an opening-game showdown between defending City boys’ basketball champions, Westchester defeated Fremont, 58-47, with a 20-point fourth quarter Monday night before a crowd of about 800 at Cal State Dominguez Hills.

Junior Jason Sanders, who didn’t start, led Westchester with 12 points as the defending 4-A Division Comets limited 3-A champion Fremont to 13 points in the fourth quarter.

“It really was a sloppy game,” Westchester Coach Ed Azzam said. “It was such an intense game, (but) no one was ready to play yet. . . . Jason Sanders is our secret weapon.”

In the second quarter, Westchester rallied from a nine-point deficit and held Fremont to four points.

“We came out tight and real nervous,” Sanders said. “But, then we started to play our game.”

Fremont made only 16 of 29 free throws and also had problems shooting from the field. Eric Waltree led the Pathfinders with 13 points.

“We didn’t have a lot of stuff in on offense and playing the caliber of team like Westchester is a problem,” Fremont Coach Sam Sullivan said. “We just went flat in the second quarter.”