Providence’s Matthew Eaton, shooting over Laguna Blanca’s Spenser Wyatt and Stephen McCaffery, scored 22 points.
Laguna Blanca solved the Matt Eaton equation on the way to a 53-47 victory over Providence in a Condor League game on Tuesday.
Eaton was regularly finding the cracks in Laguna’s defense in the first half, scoring 17 of his game-high 22 points in the first two quarters, before the Owls decided to switch to a box-and-1 defense in an attempt to slow Eaton down.
Laguna Blanca’s Jose Espinosa
“If he had kept doing what he was doing, we would have lost the game. We just couldn’t guard him,” said Owls head coach Sal Rodriguez, who credited assistant Bo Rodriguez with the defensive adjustment.
Laguna Blanca started the third quarter on a 13-1 run and established a 40-27 lead. Philip Fauntleroy was a big part of Laguna Blanca’s third-quarter surge, scoring eight-straight points on two 3-pointers and a layup off a backdoor cut.
“When we were in halftime, our coaches told us to focus on defense,” said Jose Espinosa, Laguna Blanca’s leading scorer with 12 points. “If we could execute on defense, we could execute on offense. So our priority was just defense.”
Espinosa, a transfer from San Marcos playing his first season with the Owls, threw down a one-handed dunk during Laguna Blanca’s 7-0 second-quarter run.
Stephen McCaffery and Fauntleroy added 11 points each for Laguna Blanca while Pierce O’Donnell picked up nine points.
Patriots head coach Steve Stokes appreciated how his team rallied after losing its first-half lead. The Patriots were up 13-6 after a nice pass-fake and lay-in by Bryan Sheets.
Providence (2-8) is ranked No. 10 in CIF-ss Division 6 but the team is still learning to play to together in many ways. With six freshman and three sophomores on the roster, many are playing in new roles this season.
“We knew Laguna was going to go on a run at some point. I thought our young team handled that adversity very well, battled back and gave ourselves a chance to win at the end,” Stokes said.
Judah Luberto was the Patriots’ second-leading scorer with 11 points.
The two teams played once already this season in a non-league situation at the Ojai Valley Classic tournament. Laguna Blanca won that game 71-62. Eaton scored 29.
Thursday’s game was the first of a back-to-back-to-back stretch for the Patriots, who travel to Midland on Friday and host Dunn on Saturday.
Laguna Blanca (4-6), the defending league champions, host Condor League newcomer Garden Street Academy on Saturday.
BOX SCORE
Laguna 12 15 17 9 – 53
Providence 16 10 11 10 – 47
Laguna Blanca — Fauntleroy 11, McCaffery 11, Jose Espinona 12, O’Donnell 9, Canstentino 4, Wyatt 6.
Providence — Eaton 22, Beebe 4, Luberto 11, Sheets 6, Jones 4.
