So far the St. Monica boys’ basketball team is having an up and down season. Playing in their own St. Monica Tournament and the El Segundo Hoops Classic Tournament proved no different for the Mariners. One game they play lights out basketball.
The next time out the team seems to lose their momentum. It’s still early in the season with league coming up after the first of the year, so the Mariners have time fix whatever issues they may have on both sides of the ball. In the El Segundo Hoops Classic Tournament, St. Monica came away losing three of the four games they played. However, the good news for the Mariners is that they went up against some stiff competition.
Leading the way for the Mariners this season has been seniors Kavin Dotson and Spencer Gorman. In a 52-51 defeat to Palos Verdes, Dotson scored a team-high 19 points, connecting on three three-pointers for the Mariners. Dennis Ashley added 15 points for St. Monica in the close contest. Even though they managed to force overtime against Crossroads after overcoming a slow start, the Mariners finally fell to the Roadrunners in the overtime period by the score of 68-59.
Dotson, of course, led the way for the Mariners again, dropping in 21 points in the loss. Gorman stepped up his game and scored 13 points in the defeat. St. Monica finally broke through with a win, stopping host El Segundo 63-55. Ashley was the high-point scorer in this one for the Mariners, scoring 20 points.
Both Dotson and Gorman gave Ashley an added assist by scoring 15 points apiece. St. Monica closed the deal on the win by outscoring El Segundo 26-21 in the fourth quarter. The Mariners’ matchup against Centennial did not turn out to be so favorable. Centennial put up 33 first half points enroute to a 69-49 win against the upstart Mariners. Dotson had a quiet night, shooting the ball from the field, scoring just 12 points.
The Mariners play several more games before they open Camino Real League play against West on Jan. 10. Coach John Skinner said some of the defeats that his team have suffered thus far could have easily gone the other way.
“We are currently 4-5 with a couple of real close losses to some solid teams so our record could easily be better,” Skinner said. “We need to learn to play at a higher level more consistently as we definitely ride the roller coaster of momentum quite a bit. Right now, seniors Kavin Dotson and Spencer Gorman have been having solid seasons.”
