The Providence High boys’ basketball team did not win a CIF Southern Section championship Friday night.
But the Pioneers did beat a CIF championship team.
Providence opened Prep League play with a 100-73 win over Rio Hondo Prep, a team that consisted exclusively of players from its CIF Southern Section Division 9 championship football team.
The 100-point total is the highest Providence has had in coach Anthony Cosby’s three-year tenure.
“It has been a point of reference in practice. (We have) lots of emphasis on spacing, sharing the basketball, and not cutting any corners in terms of footwork (The) guys are getting better at knocking down that shot,” Cosby said.
As a team Providence hit 15 three-point shots, and five different players made at least one long-distance basket.
“It is nice to get one (win) under our belt,” Cosby said. “I tip my hat to Rio Hondo. Their coach gets their kids ready to play hard. They are fearless.”
Julian Thompkins, who led Providence (9-8 oveall, 1-0 in league) with 29 points, was good from long distance three times in each half.
One of those three-pointers gave Providence its first lead at 7-5. Providence went up 24-15 at halftime. The Pioneers increased their lead to 54-32 at halftime.
Jalen Thomas also came up big for Providence as he finished with 21 points, and showed valuable leadership capabilities when Thompkins went to the bench midway through the fourth quarter with the Pioneers comfortabally ahead.
Point guard Alex Kizirian, who finished with 10 points, spoke about his team’s improved depth.
“At the start of the season our depth wasn’t effective, but as we’ve gotten deeper into the season they have really stepped up and taken their roles,” Kizirian said.
Sophomore Griffin Berschneider finished with 15 points, Fellow sophomore Riley Murphy had 12 points. Soloman Huang, another sophomore, had 11 points. Ciaran Turner and Constantine Tablada each had two points.
Rio Hondo Prep (7-6, 0-2) was led by Derek David, who had 18 points.
