BOYS' BASKETBALL: MALIK HAS FEW FLAWS IN VICTORY SENIOR FORWARD SCORES 36 TO LEAD LA CANADA OVER HANFORD WEST LA CANADA 68, HANFORD WEST 56.Byline: ERIK BOAL Special to the Daily News LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE -- After one of the most impressive performances of his career in an overtime loss to Campbell Hall Campbell Hall can refer to:
Aside from those rare moments of vulnerability, La Canada's senior forward gave Hanford West plenty of moments to discuss on the team's three-hour bus ride home. From alley-oop layups to turnaround jumpers to 3-point shots to rebound putbacks, Malik provided many highlights for the Spartan faithful in what might have been the final home game of his career. Malik matched the best postseason output of his career with 36 points and added 10 rebounds in front of a standing-room-only crowd to lead the second-seeded Spartans to a 68-56 opening-round victory in the Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, regional of the Div. III state playoffs. "Like I've said all year, the fans are a sixth man for us," said Malik, who is averaging 30.1 points per game in the postseason, including 36 in a Div A DIV Associate of Divinity .III-AA first-round victory over Crossroads of Santa Monica Santa Monica (săn`tə mŏn`ĭkə), city (1990 pop. 86,905), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on Santa Monica Bay; inc. 1886. Tourism and retailing are important, and the city has motion-picture, biotechnology, and software industries. . "They've supported us and they mean a lot to us. And (playing at home), I'm real familiar with the rims and everything." Malik didn't need much assistance from the rims, as most of his shots banked cleanly clean·ly adj. clean·li·er, clean·li·est Habitually and carefully neat and clean. See Synonyms at clean. adv. In a clean manner. clean off the glass or touched nothing but net. When he came out of the game with 6:40 remaining, Hanford West (18-13) had only 35 points. His performance secured La Canada's berth in Saturday's regional semifinals against No. 3 seed Mission Bay of San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. (23-5) at either La Canada or Crescenta Valley The Crescenta Valley is a small inland valley in Los Angeles County, California. Its name derives from its crescent-like shape, with the convex portion facing roughly northeast and the concave portion southwest. of La Crescenta. "He's the real deal. He's as good as they come and the best we've seen all year," Hanford West coach Tim Caudillo caudillo (kôdēl`yō Span. kouthē`yō), [Span.,= military strongman], type of South American political leader that arose with the 19th-century wars of independence. said of Malik. "I knew he'd be able to play inside like that, but then he comes out and hits three 3-pointers in the first quarter. That's something you can't practice for. He's that good." Christian Nitu (seven points and seven assists) and Darren Ho (15 points and three assists) continued to feed their 6-foot-7 teammate, despite him facing double- and triple-teams. Malik scored eight points during a 10-0 second-quarter run by the Spartans (29-3), who led 39-21 at the half. Although he scored all of his points through three quarters, Malik received the biggest response from the crowd with 55 seconds remaining, as the fans chanted his name for nearly a minute following a blocked shot on Jeff Martin Jeff Martin is the name of:
"I thought he played a great three quarters and then he got a little tired," said La Canada coach Tom Hofman, who recorded his first state playoff victory since 1992. "You had two good teams out there. But we had Adam and they didn't." erik.boal@dailynews.com (818) 713-3607 CAPTION(S): photo Photo: La Canada's Alex Malik shoots during the Spartans' win against Hanford West on Thursday at La Canada. Larry Goren/Staff Photographer |
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