GATEWAY 59
MONTBELLO 46
(1/13/09)

BY MARTY CESARIO

City vibe at Montbello High. Sure, I'll concede that Gateway is officially a member of the Continental League, but geography and character offer that this match-up is never just an ordinary non-conference rendezvous. These kids know each other too well. They cross paths on and off the court in the off-season. "So no secrets here, huh, Coach?" "None at all," confirmed Montbello coach DAVID CAREY.

That familiarity seemed to help the Warriors ealry in this game. As soon as the clock started running, Montbello's ISIAH COOPER and SEAN EDWARDS employed a defensive gauntlet against Gateway guards. Two steals... two buckets off the break. Another forced turnover... then a foul on the other end. Montbello jumped ahead 5-0. Then the Olympians tweeked their offensive attack, saddled up their two studs, and dominated the rest of the game.

After the initial Montbello rush, the game's pace halted. And neither offense was doing well in half-court sets. Slowly, the tempo change and Gateway coach JEFF SWEET's offensive adjustments began to pay huge dividends. Reserve VINCE ROYBAL stepped in, drew a charge, blocked a shot, and grabbed a couple of rebounds. Gateway defense. Check. And then "hello" Oly offense... with a twist. Gateway moved their guards to the wings with bigger guys, JOSH PLEASANT or GEORGE BERLING, running the offense from the high post or even facing the basket from way up top. Yep. That worked. Nobody matched-up with Pleasant could move with him. And, at the rim, nobody could get a bee-hind on LARRY RILEY whose sudden flurry of consecutive offensive put-backs followed by a strong cut, drive, foul and free throws gave Gateway control they'd never give up. (With 11 from Riley and 11 from Pleasant, all in the 2nd quarter, those two combined for 22 of Gateway's 28 first half point total.)

Montbello flashed some promise to start the 2nd half. Coach Carey went big with his twin trucks, RODERICK TAYLOR and AMAL WILSON, owning the paint and momentarily negating the Olympians ability to drive inside and snag offensive rebounds. I loved that look from the Warriors-- with Taylor and ROBERT HARRISON dribbling and driving with that pair of big guys waiting underneath... watch out! Didn't last, though. Whistles blew the big boys outta the game. Although the Warriors' 6'5" sub LAMAR CHERRY played tough, Pleasant and Riley were able to re-establish their authority and the Olympians coasted to a 13 point victory.

A pair of additional notes: Keep checking our site for video of Pleasant's sweet slam off a dish from LAMONT GIBSON. Our play-by-play man, Cory Lopez, insisted that show up on our
"Plays-of-the-Week" page... And ya wanna know how "foul" things got at the end of this game? Berling's reverse lay-in with :12 left was merely the third field goal in the entire 4th quarter. Collectively, 20 of the 26 points scored in the final frame were via free throws.

Final: 59-46. GO (9-3) Riley 22, Pleasant 20... MW (7-5) Cooper 16, Edwards 10.