Among the standouts for Cypress this summer have been (from left) Christian Chai, Elijah Vaielua and Eddie Spencer. (Photo Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone)
Cypress High’s boys basketball team is wrapping up a busy run of games this summer hosting its annual tournament.
By the end of this weekend, Cypress will have played 32 games in 30 days, according to Coach Derek Mitchell.
Cypress opened the tournament Thursday afternoon with a 79-65 victory over El Toro. The Centurions led 42-26 before the Chargers cut the lead to 10 points with about a minute remaining.
“It’s good to see how far we’ve progressed from the beginning of summer,” said Mitchell. “We only had two guys who had major minutes last year, Christian Chai and Elijah Vaielua were both second team all-league.
“Other than that, everybody has been competing for minutes. I was glad to see that our defense was able to shut them down in the first half. We just have to get better at finishing plays.”
Cypress was led by Eddie Spencer, who scored 15 points. Alex Gutierrez added 14 points, Cooper Llaban had 12 points and Vaielua had nine points.
“Chai our point guard was great defensively and he’s a knock-down shooter,” Mitchell said. “He didn’t play that much today because we didn’t need him but he’s been really good for us this summer.”
El Toro was led by Stevie Guitererez, who had 26 points and Drake Martin who had 22 points.
Cypress also defeated a lower level Mater Dei squad, 82-76 on Thursday.
“We fit one regular season into one month. I know the boys are dead, their legs are tired but they were still able to come out and compete at a top level today,” Mitchell said.
The tournament continues Friday and wraps up on Saturday at Cypress.
Other Thursday scores:
Lakewood 67, Santa Fe 39
Newport Harbor 66, Sunny Hills 54
Mater Dei 67, Huntington Beach 61
Newport Harbor 64, Santa Fe 39
RELATED: Cypress meets Newport for championship
-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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