Brea Olinda Too Slick for Rusty Magnolia

The task of facing fifth-ranked and defending league champion Brea Olinda in an Orange League opener was difficult enough for Magnolia. And it was compounded by the fact that the Sentinels had not played a game since Jan. 4.

All of which made Brea Olinda’s 90-73 victory Wednesday at Magnolia not only predictable but inevitable.

The Sentinels (10-7, 0-1) were rusty, making only five of 25 field-goal attempts in the first half and 25 of 64 (39%) for the game.

They scored only five points in the first quarter and had only 35 by the end of three. They pulled within 40-30 with less than four minutes to play in the third quarter, but Brea Olinda promptly went on a 14-5 burst to put the game out of reach.

“I was concerned about the layoff, and as I feared we rushed everything,” Coach Al Walin said. “Only briefly in the third, when we got the deficit down to 10, were we in sync.”

The Wildcats (14-3, 1-0), meanwhile, raced to an 11-0 first-quarter lead and never trailed by less than 10. The lead grew to as much as 24 points (72-48) before Coach Gene Lloyd removed all of his starters from the game.

Brea Olinda guard Chris McMillian led all scorers with 23 points. Sean Wink had 20, including four three-pointers, and Jason Skrifvars had 13 points and 18 rebounds.

Zamiro Bennem led Magnolia with 22 points. Art Garland had 17 points and 12 rebounds.

“I don’t think we played that well on offense in the first half, but our defense carried us,” Lloyd said. “We were missing layups and free throws, but in the second half I felt we took control.”