Sports
Grossmont Loss Secures League Basketball Title for Helix Boys
Granite Hills beats the Foothillers 64-55, and with a win over Steele Canyon, Highlanders claim Grossmont Hills crown.
There will not be a repeat boys basketball champion in the Grossmont Hills League this season.
Defending champion Grossmont High, which upset front-running Helix last week, was eliminated from the race by host Granite Hills 64-55 on Tuesday.
By stumbling at Granite Hills, Grossmont (17-9, 6-3 GHL) fell two games behind Helix (19-6, 8-1) with one contest remaining in the regular season. Thus, the Highlanders, who defeated Steele Canyon 48-31 on Tuesday, have won the GHL crown outright. It marked the 14th Grossmont League title for Helix during coach John Singer’s 30 years at the helm.
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The Foothillers never led at Granite Hills. Trailing 29-17 at halftime, Grossmont sliced the Eagles advantage to 35-33 on a 3-pointer by DeSean Waters late in the third quarter. After that, though, Granite Hills closed the period with a 7-0 run.
Granite Hills guard Garrett Larch-Miller burned Grossmont for 41 points – four below his career high. The 6-foot-2 marksman actually scored 19 of the Eagles’ first 21 points.
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“They played physical with us and we don’t do real well when teams do that to us,” said Grossmont coach Frank Foggiano. “They did a good job of pushing Michael (Wnek) and Robby (Nesovic) away from the basket.”
Nevertheless, Wnek landed six of 14 shots from 3-point distance to top the Foothillers with 18 points. Nesovic was limited to a mere two free throws in the first half, but garnered nine of his 14 points overall in the final period.
Derek Rustich added 13 points for Grossmont, which lost the battle of the boards 41-29.
The Foothillers conclude the GHL season by hosting West Hills on Friday, while Helix entertains Granite Hills.
Granite Hills 64, Grossmont 55
Grossmont 7 10 16 22 — 55
Granite Hills 11 18 13 22 — 64
Grossmont scoring: Michael Wnek 18,Robby Nesovic 14, Derek Rustich 13, DeSean Waters 8, Austin Swisher 2.
Granite Hills scoring: Garrett Larch-Miller 41, Joey Grubb 10, Scott Atkinson 6, Dalton Otineru 5, Nate Jeter 2.
Special to Patch.com from EastCountySports.com
