Las Positas Wins Round 1 Against Chabot In District Rivalry

Score Round 1 for the Hawks.

The Las Positas College and Chabot men’s basketball teams, district rivals and quality programs, played the first of two back-to-back showdowns on Monday night, with the host Hawks grinding out a 77-59 victory in the Coast-North Conference.

Round 2 will be Wednesday night at Chabot in Hayward.

The Hawks, ranked No. 3 in the state, improved to 20-2 overall and 7-1 in conference, staying on the heels of State No. 1 City College of San Francisco (23-1, 10-0) in the race for first place. Chabot fell to 14-8 and 6-4.

Monday’s contest had the markings of a heavyweight battle as both teams played tough defense and struggled to find an offensive rhythm in a rescheduled game.

“We think Chabot’s a good team, and we had to do things right to win,” Las Positas coach James Giacomazzi said. “It was kind of a weird game. It was hard to find a rhythm. It was kind of like boxers feeling each other out and then there was really no knockout. It was kind of like, ‘OK, you win by score.’”

Las Positas forward Brandon Fisher made a grand return from a hamstring injury suffered in a loss to CCSF on Jan. 26. After seeing limited practice time, Fisher produced 21 points, six rebounds and two blocks against Chabot.

The Gladiators trailed just 45-42 with 14 minutes, 11 seconds left in the second half. But that’s when Las Positas leaned on its Big 3 — point guard Lee Jones Jr., Fisher, and Jordahn Johnson — to seize control. The Hawks outscored the Gladiators 32-17 the rest of the way and limited Chabot to 36.8 percent shooting from the floor for the game.

Both teams struggled to score early on.

“I was trying to find anyone who can generate some rhythm and some cohesiveness offensively,” Giacomazzi said. “Defensively, I thought everyone we put in did a pretty good job. It wasn’t that, but it was how can we get some scoring opportunities?”

So, he moved the pieces around.

He put his two standout bigs, Johnson and Fisher, out there together for a change of pace. Factor in Jones’ artistry and leadership, and the puzzle was complete.

The dazzling Jones finished with 18 points, seven assists and four steals. He started the second-half surge with a dish to Fisher for a jumper from the top of the key. He also defended well.

“We kind of go as he goes,” Giacomazzi said of Jones, a sophomore former Serra High star. “He really is the floor general for our team. When he has good games, we are very successful … I think he’s been one of the most consistent point guards in Northern California. … I thought he did a great job again today and he is a spark. We look for him to do that.”

Late in the first half after Chabot’s Isaiah Veal scored to cut the deficit to 30-28, Fisher scored off a pump-fake, and Jones the team’s final six points of the half with two layups and a riveting lob assist to Dominick Victor for a dunk.

In the game's final stages, Fisher tapped in a Jones miss and then scored inside on a nice look from Jones to up the margin to 59-46 with 6:41 remaining. Jones tacked on two free throws, and Fisher scored inside again on a beautiful inside pass from Johnson, who overcame foul trouble and tough defense from Chabot’s David Ogunleye to produce another double-double, with 13 points and 10 boards.

But there’s no time to celebrate for the Hawks, who have big games remaining also against College of San Mateo and CCSF.

First, though, it’s time for Round 2 with Chabot Wednesday night. Stay tuned …