BELLFLOWER >> The Damien boys basketball team had a balanced offensive attack with four players in double figures as the Spartans defeated Fairmont Prep 68-52 in the semifinals of the Bosco Winter Classic Friday night at St. John Bosco High.
The Spartans (11-0) will face tournament host St. John Bosco in the championship game Saturday at 7:30 p.m., which also means they go against their former coach Matt Dunn.
Jimmy Oladokun scored a team high 19 points, RJ Smith and Spivey Word each scored 16 points while Kaleb Smith added 14 points for the Spartans.
Damien coach Michael LeDuc, who replaced Dunn back in 2015 for his second stint with the Spartans, expressed mixed emotions after the win when asked about facing the Braves in the final.
“We always like to play for the championship game but I never like to play against one of my friends,” LeDuc said of Dunn. “But at the same time, it’s great when you’re playing for the championship.”
Damien (10-0) gets ready to take on Fairmont Prep (6-1) in the semifinals of the Bosco Winter Classic. Winner plays the Braves in the Championship game tomorrow. @ocvarsity @SGVNSports pic.twitter.com/sQyxfw3xJY
— David Delgado (@DavidDelgado_OC) December 11, 2021
LeDuc credited the Huskies with a great start to the game and was glad to get past such a difficult opponent.
“I thought we didn’t play very well early and they did,” LeDuc said.
The leading scorers for Fairmont Prep (6-2) were Chol Deng and Myles Che, who both finished with 17 points. Deng and Che helped the Huskies gain an early advantage in the first quarter until Kaleb Smith scored back-to-back baskets to tie the game.
RJ Smith followed that with a 3-pointer that gave Damien an 11-8 lead and forced Fairmont coach Joedy Gardner to call time out.
The Huskies stayed close as Che’s 3-pointer was part of a 5-0 run to bring Fairmont Prep within 19-17.
RJ Smith responded with seven consecutive points to make it 26-19 and Word hit a 3 to help give the Spartans a 31-21 halftime lead.
Word scored 13 of his 16 points in the third quarter as Damien’s defense forced the Huskies into mistakes which translated into easy buckets at the other end.
“He did a great job defensively all night long, which kind of went unnoticed,” LeDuc said of Word.
Fairmont Prep got no closer than eight points in the second half as Oladokun’s energetic play on both ends of the court helped Damien pull away late.