ORANGE — The Villa Park boys basketball team is no stranger to playing games on the road.
The Spartans’ home gym is closed while it undergoes some renovations, so technically all of their games have been away games this season as they are playing their “home” games at Santiago Canyon College.
Villa Park received a balanced output from Tristan Griffin, Dakari Harris and Mal Johnson as the nomadic Spartans cruised to a 71-50 “home” victory over El Dorado in the Freeway League on Tuesday night.
Villa Park (14-8, 2-1) has picked up consecutive wins in league play while El Dorado (18-5, 2-2) has dropped back-to-back league games.
Griffin scored a game-high 17 points and Johnson added 16 points, while Harris (16 points) was able to establish his inside game from the onset.
“I thought all three stepped up, especially Dakari,” said Jesse Mercado, who has been filling in as Villa Park’s coach while head coach Kevin Reynolds tends to some health issues. “Dakari really showed that he’s a player. He went to work, he rebounded very strongly.”
Harris finished with seven rebounds and center Diego Perez added eight points and a team-high 11 boards.
“We’ve got a lot of talent, so for them, it’s just getting them to figure out how to use it, and getting them to show up on the same night,” Mercado said. “There’s only one ball for all those dudes but when they share it, as you see, they all get a piece of the pie and it’s pretty effective.”
Mercado, who has been leading Villa Park the past five games, was impressed with the all-around effort displayed by the team.
“I thought we were scrappy, I thought we were physical,” Mercado said. “We did a great job on the boards. Our defensive rotations were very good and I thought we did a good job communicating, I think that really helped us.”
El Dorado was led by Caleb Hendrix, who scored a team-high 12 points. Elias Rodarte added 11 points, including three 3-pointers, and Marcelo Gonzalez finished with 10 points.
Golden Hawks coach Ryan Mounce said the team’s recent performances tell him he has not properly prepared the players.
“I just gotta do a better job of getting my team ready to play these games,” Mounce said. “I’m not doing my job and that’s the bottom line. My players are not playing at the level that we’re capable of and I gotta get them ready to be in that position to be successful. … No excuses.”
Mounce is looking forward to seeing his players get a few days off so they can be reenergized for a stretch run that includes games next week at Troy (Jan. 21) and at Sonora (Jan. 24).
“Getting guys refreshed and recovered and giving them a few days to get away is a good thing,” Mounce said. “I planned that out knowing this was the schedule, so hopefully that gives them a chance to come back and regroup and reorganize.”
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