Damien Shuts Down University, Earns Rematch Against Eisenhower

A jubilant Chris Adams, who scored 24 points, strides off the court, ready to celebrate with teammates Ryan Tatera and Ryne Morrison.

With 2:35 remaining, Damien clung to seven-point lead, 50-43, when the Spartans called a timeout. What was said wasn’t recorded, but the result was clear. Within a minute, the Spartans went on a 10-0 blitz, featuring two twisting layups by Chris Adams, another by Terrell Bolden and a basket and a pair of free throws by center Chris Reyes, who also blocked three shots in the sequence, to help Damien go up 60-43 en route to a final 60-46 victory over the University Trojans.

“We really wanted to control the tempo,” said Damien head coach Matt Dunn. “We just didn’t make layups early. But we finally finished a little bit better in the end.”

In the first quarter, after two quick three’s by University, Adams single-handedly shot Damien back into the contest, scoring 12 of the Spartans first 14 points and helping the Spartans get even, 14-14, at the end of the first eight minutes.

“Adams is a senior, and he’s done this before,” Dunn said. “I hate to say it, but we expect it. That’s really not true, but it’s just a great luxury to have a guy who wants the ball at any point of the game. He’s really improved his game. Last year, at this time of year, he was strictly a jump shooter, and tonight, I thought he was great getting the ball to the rim.”

While Reyes had several rim-outs in the first quarter, he started to get untracked in the second quarter as Damien went up by as many as eight points before leading at the half, 32-26. One of the first-half sparkplugs for Damien was guard Terrell Bolden who dished out back-to-back assists to Ryan Tatera to help the Spartans tie the game at 17-17, and then move ahead, 19-17, a lead they would never relinquish.

Boldin also helped shut down University’s Ben Kwan, a top offensive player.

“He asked for No. 20 (Kwan’s number),” Dunn said. “For a coach, that’s a dream, to see your guys want to take on challenges. He and Clayton White helped control the tempo.” Kwan was held to 15 points.

“On the night, we gave up 46 to a team that gets 75 a game,” Dunn added. “Boldin and White got the ball where we needed to get it, and they didn’t turn it over. We have a chance to be pretty successful when we’re able to do that.”

Although Reyes scored 19 points, his defense was a bigger asset. He blocked several shots and altered several others.

“He’s an unbelievable asset offensively as everybody knows,” said Dunn, “but he’s probably more of an asset defensively. We are able to really do some things against teams like this who shoot a lot of jump shots because of him. He can help us overcome a lot of mistakes. I thought he was great. He didn’t finish the way he’s capable of, but he was great defensively.”

With the win, the fourth-seeded Spartan (22-7) will now face top seed and defending CIF-SS champion Eisenhower in a replay of last year’s divisional semifinal.

“We know we’re on the road Friday night,” Dunn said about the pending rematch. The venue is supposed to be a neutral site, but Dunn didn’t quite see it that way. “They get to choose it, so it’s not completely neutral.”

For the moment, however, he just wanted to look up at the scoreboard.

“We’re going to enjoy this one,” Dunn said. “We gave Eisenhower a run for the money last year, and I’d expect us to come and compete, and we’ll believe we can win. They’re a great team, though, and it’s going to take an incredible effort for us.”

Chris Reyes, No. 34, had seven blocks to go along with his 19 points.