After building a double digit early, Lutheran (LaVerne, Calif.) answered every Lincoln (San Diego) charge to win 53-44 in the National Division consolation bracket on Thursday.
Lutheran 6-foot-10 center Grant Jarrett played his best game of the tournament, scoring a game high 19 points with a variety of dunks, mid-range jumpers and hooks from the post. Not coincidentally, it was the Trojans’ best game of the tournament as well.
“Really, I do not know [what was different in the win as opposed to the Trojans’ two losses],” Garrett said. “Coming out of South Carolina, we played really well. It’s never easy to get success, and sometimes it’s a bumpy road.”
The Trojans went at 2-1 at the Chick-Fil-A Classic in Columbia, S..C., but the effects of travel fatigue were evident on night one when Newark Memorial held Lutheran to a season-low 30 points.
Lutheran’s road was a lot smoother after finding its legs. Supplementing the Arizona-committed Jarrett’s effort was Eric Cooper Jr., who scored 12 points including a big bucket as Lincoln was surging in the fourth quarter.
The Hornets got another game of outstanding play from its dynamic twin duo of Tyrell and Tyree Robinson. Tyrell scored 17 and Tyree had 16, but no other Hornet managed double figures.
McKay Anderson had 11 points for Lutheran, which will face Compton on Friday. Lincoln meets Dominguez in the early game.
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Thursday’s National Division play got underway with Compton cruising past neighboring rival Dominguez, 72-50.
The Tarbabes established tempo immediately and never let off the throttle in a sometimes sloppily played game.
Compton overcame brief stretches of sluggishness with superb team basketball. The Tarbabes moved the ball around the court to exploit gaps in the Dominguez defense, resulting in a balanced scoring effort.
Five Compton players scored in double figures, led by Roman Pruitt’s 15, eight of which came in the fourth quarter.
Isaiah Bailey and Frank Reshard each scored 12, while Victor Robbins and Chris Lewis dropped in 11 apiece handling the Tarbabes’ low post duties.
For the second time in the tournament, Arnold Anderson was Dominguez’s leading scorer. He had 15 points to pace the Dons, while B.J. Hunt added 11. Hunt and E.J. Johnson both sank 3-pointers in the first quarter. Each has at least one long ball in all three games of the tournament.
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