Pasadena slam dunks Arcadia

The Pasadena High boys’ basketball team exploded in the third quarter, outscoring visiting Arcadia High by 12 points and went on to win, 76-52, on Tuesday in a CIF Southern Section Pacific League game.
Pasadena was led by Ajon Efferson’s game-high 25 points and Tyrek Adams, who finished with 21. The Bulldogs trailed the Apaches, 25-24, with 4:48 left in the second quarter before going on a 13-4 run to finish out the half and take control of the game heading into the third quarter.
Pasadena coach Tony Brooks said he felt his team played well after the break.
“I thought our defense stepped it up a little better in the second half,” Brooks said. “We were able to extend. Teams will come in here and they will give you their best shot. If we’re not ready to play we’re going to be in for a game. But I thought our team stepped up the second half defensively.”
Brooks added he has been telling his team to consider every game an important one and not to get ahead of themselves.
“We played Muir on Friday and high school kids have a tendency to look ahead,” he said. “I’ve been trying for the last three days to tell them that this is a big game and they’ve been looking at me out of the corner of their eyes. At the same time Arcadia is a very formidable team. As a coach I’m scared to death. But we were able to put some things together and finish it off. So, I was pleased with that.”
Arcadia coach Ben Cordeiro said his team let the game get away after having a second quarter lead.
“We did have our chances,” Cordeiro said. “We played pretty well in the first half, just got to continue to play well a full game, not just a half.”
Cordeiro said Arcadia started to get outmatched by the Bulldogs in the third quarter.
“We just got to stay on practicing hard and executing on offense,” he said. “I thought the second half we got away from executing on offense. The pressure didn’t allow us to execute.”
He also said the Apaches need to play better offense if it is going to win games.
“I think we hit some shots,” he said. “We got some confidence. When we were hitting shots we were playing with a little more confidence and that brought us more success.”
(Shel Segal can be reached at ssegal@beaconmedianews.com. Follow him via Twitter @segallanded.)

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