Prep Basketball BOYS : L.A. Baptist 60, Montclair Prep 50

All LA Baptist High School Coach Maury Neville wanted was for his team to “not get blown off the court” by Montclair Prep. After all, Montclair was coming in with an 8-0 record, having defeated all its opponents by an average of 24 points.

Not only did the Knights not get blown off their home court, they upset the Mounties, 60-50, in the opening game for both Alpha league schools.

Thanks to its 2-3 zone, Baptist (8-2, 1-0) managed to contain Montclair’s 6-8, 278-pound center Todd Bowser in the second quarter, at times double- and triple-teaming him whenever he got the ball. As a result, the Knights outscored Montclair (8-1, 0-1) 17-8 in the period and took a 32-23 lead into the locker room at halftime. Bowser was averaging a little over 21 points before the game.

However in the second half, the Knights eased the zone just enough for Bowser to get the ball inside. He finished with game-highs: 17 points and 17 rebounds.

“We didn’t work as hard as we should have with our zone in the second half and Todd was allowed to make all those shots inside,” said Neville. “But you can’t just concentrate on stopping Bowser anymore. They’re very quick and have a great supporting cast in (Daron) Nickerson, (Tim) Stallworth and (John) Quick.”

The momentum shifted Montclair’s way in the third quarter and it managed to cut a 13-point deficit to two, 46-44, with 5:41 left in the game. However, the Knights made five straight layups and then went into a slow-down offense, coasting to the 10-point upset.