Boys Hoops: Undefeated Poly Beats Wilson 78-36

It took a little more than a quarter for reality to hit Long Beach Wilson. Any aspirations the Bruins had to upset a talented Long Beach Poly team ended in the second quarter, when the Jackrabbits outscored them by a three-to-one margin.

Unbeaten Poly rolled to its 15^th consecutive victory, recording a 78-36 rout in a Moore League win Wednesday night at Poly.

Four players scored in double figures for Poly, led by point guard Alexis Moore with 14 points. Power forward Ryan Anderson finished with 13 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots, while forward Chris Camper and guard Alex Carmon each scored 12 points.

It wasn’t any surprise that Wilson coach Matt Michelson wasn’t pleased with the outcome, but criticism by Poly coach Sharrief Metoyer about his team’s play was unexpected.

“We should have been sharper," Metoyer said. “When we play, and our kids will attest to this, the performance has to speak for itself. We always want to play at a high level on the floor. I thought we were a little sloppy with the basketball on offense and defensively we gave up too many three’s.

“But I’m pleased with the win and pleased with the overall effort.”

“I have higher expectations for our team,” Michelson said. “We had stretches where we didn’t execute the way we know how. That’s a credit to their defense on one hand, but on the other one I have high expectations for this team. We didn’t play as well as we could have.”

The Jackrabbits (15-0, 3-0) had no such problems. They blew open the contest in the second period by outscoring Wilson 22-7, turning a six-point game into a 42-21 advantage at intermission.

Camper, who scored eight of his points in the decisive quarter, reserve guard Chris Croom and Carmon sparked a 13-2 run in the opening three minutes of the second to turn the game into a rout. Carmon’s dunk capped the run, giving Poly a 33-16 advantage. By halftime, the margin ballooned to 21 points.

Poly’s size and quickness gave the Bruins problems practically from the start. The Jackrabbits’ pressure defense forced turnovers and sloppy passes by Wilson and it kept the Bruins from running their offense. And whey they did get past Poly’s perimeter players, the 6-8 Anderson either blocked or altered their shots.

The few bright spots for Wilson (8-9, 2-2) came early. None was bigger than junior guard Joel McPherson hitting a shot from behind the half-court line as the buzzer sounded to end the first quarter, cutting Poly’s lead to 20-14. But that was the beginning of the end for Wilson.

“We battled at times, but not long enough or hard enough that we needed to compete with them,” Michelson said.

The Bruins, who had earned league wins over Millikan and Compton in their past two outings, will attempt to bounce back when they host Cabrillo at 6:30 p.m. Friday.

Poly resumes league play Friday at Millikan. The Jackrabbits host Jordan in another league contest on Jan. 19. Both games are scheduled for 6:30 p.m.