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CLICK HERE TO VIEW PIX.....Bell vs Roosevelt Basketball


Roosevelt Falls to Eagles

Mario Villegas
Exclusive to EGP

Bell High School raced off to an 18-0 start Monday and never looked back as the visiting Eagles went on to defeat Roosevelt, 52-32, in a pivotal Eastern League boys’ basketball game.

The loss dropped Roosevelt (7-3 in league) two games out of first place in the standings with two games left. The Rough Riders (15-5 overall), who play South Gate at 4 p.m. Friday at home, will attempt to finish no worse than third in league.

“We’ll probably make the playoffs and still get a high seed,” said Coach Gabriel Trejo, who guided Roosevelt to the City Section Invitational semifinals last season. “Hopefully, we can get a home game.”

Bell, meanwhile, improved to 9-1 and is tied with Jordan for first. The teams will likely play for the title Thursday at Jordan.

The Rough Riders couldn’t get out of the starting blocks Monday as Bell (15-5) had little trouble with Roosevelt’s press and used its height advantage to dominate the rebounding in building a 22-2 lead in the second quarter.

“That killed us,” Trejo said. “We just didn’t shoot the ball well today.”

The loss came just three days after the Rough Riders were defeated by Jordan, 71-58, at Jordan.

“We had a tough game against Jordan on Friday and that didn’t leave us much time to prepare for today’s game,” Trejo said. “So we played two of the toughest teams in the league back to back on Friday and Monday, and I think it had something to do with it.”

Moreover, Roosevelt played three games last week and plays three this week. Normally, teams play two league games per week.

“We could’ve been a little tired out there, especially since we only go with seven players,” Trejo admitted.

They were definitely a little short when it came to matching up with Bell. The Eagles were led by 6-8 center Ricardo De La Rosa, and 6-5 forward Trinidad Hernandez, who dominated the key on both ends of the court against a Roosevelt starting lineup with no player taller than 6-1.

“We only went with one big guy the first time we played them, but today we went with our two big guys and that helped us control the rebounds and create difficult shots for them from the outside,” Bell Coach Alex Del Hierro said.

Roosevelt won 48-42 the first time the teams played Jan. 14 at Bell, but the Eagles have won six straight games since then.

“We were able to break their press today and, defensively, we closed out and didn’t give them any free looks from the outside,” Del Hierro said. “We forced them to throw inside against our size.”

Senior forward Andrew Ruiz (6-3) scored 14 points to lead Bell, which also got 13 from Sergio Garcia and 10 from Mario Gomez.

Del Hierro, who coached Roosevelt to the Invitational title last season, expects his team to be playing Jordan for the title on Thursday.

“Winning at Jordan is a very difficult task,” said Del Hierro, whose team defeated Jordan, 50-40, Jan. 25. But feels his team is playing at its best.

“We are peaking at the tight time, and this is what we want less than a week away from the playoffs,” he said.

Roosevelt was led by Emmanuel Medina with 14 points and Luis Miguel Ceja with nine.