Vikings beat Warren for 11th straight win
Downey’s Omar Cisneros (11) takes a 3-point shot in a non-league game against Warren Monday. Downey defeated Warren, 71-58. (Photo by Daniel Farina)
DOWNEY – If not for a six-point loss over a month ago, the Downey High School Boys Basketball team would have an undefeated record on the season.
After starting the season with seven consecutive wins, the Vikings dropped a close game to Loyola in a tournament at the beginning of December.
A hard-fought victory over visiting Warren on Monday (January 9) in a non-league game, extended its longest winning streak in almost 20 years to 11 games.
With the win, the Vikings improved to 18-1, while Warren is 10-9.
Larry Shelton, who is in his 35th and final season as the Downey coach, stopped a bit short saying that this was his best team ever.
“It’s one of my best,” said Shelton, of his current team. “I’ve never been 18-1 and If we keep it going and can do this all through league, then they may earn that title (best ever).”
However, there are still nine league games remaining plus playoffs and this team could top 26 wins, which Downey accomplished in the 2011 season.
“Downey-Warren is always special and always a packed crowd,” Shelton said. “We were wondering how the crowd would be tonight with the rain and a Monday night. It’s always a great atmosphere.
“I’ve been part of it as a player, a coach, a teacher and there’s nothing like it.”
In the game, Warren wouldn’t go away with both teams having runs of their own.
“Give Warren a lot of credit,” Shelton added. “They came at us real hard. They had won seven out of the last eight and we expected a battle and Warren was right there with us.”
Since the game was non-league the two coaches had to find an opening in the schedule for a home-and-home series.
“It was really weird and never had it happen before,” said Shelton, of the first non-league game against Warren. “Coach Z (Zaiid Leflore) of Warren, and I had to throw several different dates together to try and figure when we could play each other. We had to play it around our league seasons.”
The biggest run of the night came in the last 5:40 of the game.
With Downey leading, 55-51, and Warren starting the quarter with a 7-0 run, the Vikings finished with a flurry outscoring the Bears, 16-7, to win going away.
“I feel like our guys fought,” said Warren Boys Basketball coach Zaiid Leflore, who is in his eighth year at the helm for the Bears. “If we had more shots fall and once shots fall, defense always improves and it didn’t happen (Monday).
“I told the guys (this game) is about Pride, about our community, even though we’re in different brackets.”
Downey led the way with four players in double figures.
Leading the way for Downey was senior guard Marcus Sanchez with 19 points (2 3’s), followed by senior guard Omar Cisneros with 15 points. Cisneros had a game-high four 3-pointers.
Vikings senior guard Jacob Topete added13 points, while senior forward Jathan Lopez scored 11 points.
“It’s important this year because we have to take on a big role and there is seven of us who have been together since our sophomore year,” said Topete, of the tight nit group. “Basketball is a game of runs. It’s Downey-Warren.
“We all love coach Shelton and he even coached my dad (Steve Topete) before. He’s been good to us and treated us like we were his own. He brings out the best in us. It’s an honor to be his last set of students.”
Senior forward Alexis Melgarejo added five points and senior guard Alex Verdugo had four points for Downey.
Cisneros and Sanchez led the way for the 23-point first quarter with nine and eight points, respectively.
With a game-high 20 points for Warren was senior guard Brian DeMedio (4 Assists), followed by senior guard Dylan Luquin with 10 points (2 3’s, 6 RB) and senior guard Rodrigo Garcia with nine points.
“We all know each other since we were kids,” Luquin said of the Downey-Warren rivalry. “I just love this atmosphere. It’s a great game.
“We came up short but got to keep on pushing.”
Warren senior forward Rene Farias (7 RB) and senior center Joshua Finn (4 RB) each had six points in the game.
Downey, which last won a San Gabriel Valley League title in 2014 and also in ’11 and ’12, took a big first-quarter lead, 20-6, behind two 3-pointers by Cisneros.
But the Bears finished the quarter with an 8-0 run on two layups by Finn, another layup by senior guard Marcus Higgs and with :07 remaining, a driving layup and free throw by sophomore guard Elijah Baba. The Bears trailed, 23-16.
“We just buckled down at the end of the quarter,” Leflore said. “We caught the ball, we got stops and we didn’t turn the ball over. That’s been our achilleas heal – the turnover. When we share the ball, we’re a good team.”
The ball was flying all over the place in the second quarter as 3’s were filling the air.
Six long-range shots were scored, three by each team.
It was a game of runs and Downey answered the late run by the bears in the opening quarter with a 5-0 run to start the second quarter on a 3-pointer by Cisneros and a driving layup by senior guard Alvin Verdugo and a foul, building the lead to 12 points, 31-22.
Downey maintained its lead, 42-29 at the half.
DeMedio started the third quarter with a 3-pointrer, followed by a pair of free throws by Farias to get within nine points, 42-34.
The big push by the Bears came early in the final quarter, trailing by 12, 55-43.
A 7-0 run to start the quarter, highlighted by long 3-pointers by DeMedio and Luguin brought the Bears with four, 55-51, with 5:40 left.
However, that was it for Warren, as Downey ended the game on a 16-7 run for the win.
Downey girls keep rolling
The Downey Girls Basketball team (15-5) stayed undefeated in the Gateway League at 3-0 with a 61-35 win over Warren Wednesday (Jan. 11).
The Vikings, who have won 11 of their past 13 games, took a 31-16 lead at the half and never looked back.
The girls face Lynwood Friday (Jan. 13), which could be a real battle. Lynwood is the defending league champion, which was undefeated at 10-0 last season.