Eagle Rock Defeats Roybal in Spirited Northern League Opener

Behind a balanced offensive attack that featured its two big men asserting themselves while on the court together for one of the first times this season, the Eagle Rock boys basketball team opened its Northern League schedule with a 66-54 win over Roybal on Wednesday night.

Malcolm Elijah (who has been hampered by an ankle injury) finally looked healthy, and Bryan Gyimesi (who has exhibited flashes of brilliance early on this season) dominated the boards as the Eagles defeated the Titans in the teams’ first-ever meeting.

“The game was really aggressive, I guess you could say,” said Gyimesi, who scored 11 points and pulled down 15 rebounds. “We went out there with the intentions of winning. We have intentions of going out undefeated in league.”

When an assistant coach for Roybal told the lone referee that he wouldn’t allow the game at Eagle Rock High School to start until the second referee got there — it was probably an indication that it was going to be an interesting night.

The second referee finally arrived, but the theatrics of that coach didn’t stop in a game filled with physical play that Eagle’s coach Drew Lord said was, at times, dirty.

“They (Roybal) were doing a lot of trash talking,” Drew said. “They were doing a lot of physical stuff — stuff that happens maybe on the playground. As a coach that stuff doesn’t happen in my practices and I don’t allow it in games, either.

“If I see somebody doing that, playing what I consider to be (a) dirty kind of basketball, I pull them out of the game.”

Elijah led Eagle Rock (6-3, 1-0) with 13 points and also grabbed nine rebounds. Heherson Canta scored 12 points, and Jacob Garcia added nine points.

Roybal (3-13, 0-1) carved into a 26-16 halftime deficit to make it 34-29. Elijah said the Eagles kicked it into high gear as the action on the court got more and more heated and both teams received multiple technical fouls.

“We don’t want to see any of our teammates — we’re close friends — be pushed around or anything,” Elijah said. “It was just our heart, at the end.”

The Eagles eventually built a 15-point lead midway through the fourth quarter.

Because of the nastiness that seemed to prevail throughout the game, it seemed fitting that Eagle Rock Athletic Director Richard Martinez came over and asked Lord, just prior to a post-game interview, “You okay?”

Lord was, but it was impossible for the Eagles coach not to contemplate the return match up of the two teams — now apparently arch rivals.

“We have to go play them at Roybal,” Drew said, looking ahead to the game on Jan. 28. “I’m sure that game is just gonna be the same flavor.”