By Rob Stone
Christopher Anderson exhibited leadership in keeping teammates such as Duda Sanadze and Dennis Kramer involved with the flow of the action as the University of San Diego (USD) Toreros defeated the Loyola Marymount University Lions 74-67 in a West Coast Conference (WCC) men’s basketball matchup at the Jenny Craig Pavilion on the campus of USD in Linda Vista on Thursday evening, January 9.
Sanadze, a six-foot-five-inch sophomore guard, paced the Toreros with a season-high 22 points, while Anderson, a five-foot-seven-inch junior guard, added 20 points, and Kramer, a 6-foot-11-inch senior post player, had 14 of his own.
Two nights later, Kramer showed a nice shooting touch around the basket in converting successfully on seven out of 11 of his field goal attempts, but it wasn’t quite enough as USD suffered a tough 69-65 loss at the hands of the Pepperdine Waves on Saturday evening, January 11.
Kramer finished with a team-high 17 points and was followed in the Toreros scoring column by Sanadze (14 points), six-foot-three-inch sophomore guard Chris Sarbaugh (12 points), and six-foot junior guard Johnny Dee (11 points).
In a WCC contest played on Thursday night, January 16, USD gained another victory by a final score of 69-66 over the Santa Clara Broncos (behind a career-high 25 points from Sanadze) before falling to the University of San Francisco (USF) Dons 64-62 on Saturday evening, January 18.
“It’s a team win – every single guy in that locker room one through 15,” said USF coach Rex Walters. “We didn’t make it easy that’s for sure. “We have to make our free throws down the stretch and take care of the ball a little better. We got the W – we’re two points better tonight and we’ll take it. It was a great locker room. I’ll take that feeling every day and twice on Sunday.”
Local High School Boys Basketball
In local high school boys basketball on Friday night, January 24, it was: Francis Parker Lancers 59, Army-Navy Academy Warriors 57 (2 OT’s); Kearny Komets 73, Crawford Colts 57; Madison Warhawks 77, Point Loma Pointers 42; Horizon Christian Academy Panthers 60, La Jolla Country Day Torreys 45; and Christian Patriots 49, Clairemont Chieftains 46.
Francis Parker’s Michael Pelaiz (game-winning bucket at the buzzer) and Evan Fitzner (28 points and 16 rebounds); Madison’s Curtis Anderson (32 points), Perry Davis (11 points), and Anthony Jensen (11 points); Kearny’s Austin Knox (19 points 13 rebounds, two assists, one steal and two blocks), Takoda Browne (14 points, four rebounds, eight assists, and eight steals), Jeremiah Jorden (13 points, five rebounds, two assists, and five steals), and Robby Robinson (10 points, eight rebounds, one assist, and one block); Horizon Christian Academy’s Ethan Underwood (15 points) and Jacob Beneventi (13 points); and Clairemont’s Julian Diaz (18 points, two rebounds, and five assists) were all stat sheet stuffers in showcasing their strong and athletic moves on the hardwood for their respective ballclubs.
Rob Stone is a life-long resident of the Clairemont Mesa/Kearny Mesa area and is also a certified scout with Sports Management Worldwide. If you would like a professional scouting report written up on your favorite athlete, you can feel free to contact him directly. He may be reached at www.highvoltigesports.blogspot.com, www.smwwscout.com/scout/rob-stone, rstone@smww.com, Sportsguyrob@att.net, or 1 (619) 871-7024.
