Issue Date: 1/20/09
Palomar no match for Knights
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Theo Overstreet led Palomar with 25 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Richard LaFleur scored 13 points and Kristoff Thande scored 11 points.
The Comets now have a 7-9 record with the loss, and are 1-2 in Pacific Coast Conference play.
This was the eighth ranked team that Palomar has played this season, with all of them ranked in the top 10. It marks the third time that Palomar has played against a team that was ranked either first or second in the state. San Diego City was ranked No. 2.
San Diego State-bound Malcolm Thomas led the Knights with 25 points and 15 rebounds.
"We practiced hard for this game and we kept our focus," San Diego City head coach Mitch Charlens said. "We have a tremendous amount of talent and we sometimes lose our focus. Palomar is a good team, but as long as we keep our focus we'll be fine."
Despite the loss, Comets head coach John O'Neill said his team fought hard and never gave up.
"I thought we competed very hard," John O'Neill said. "We're still grinding out the edges, but were not a finished product yet."
The game came during a time when the team lost three key players who saw significant playing time. Freshmen Ross Williams, Neiko Robinson and Jonathan Allen left the team for unspecified reasons.
With the losses, the Comets still gave a great effort.
"We have a great group of kids that are willing to learn so it's a matter of what we teach them and what they retain," O'Neill said.
With the three players out, the Comets could not compete with the Knights size, as they were outrebounded 41-28 and only took 12 free throws, an indication that the Comets took a lot of perimeter shots.
"We have to play harder, play together and never give up," Overstreet said. "We only have nine players so we need to play stronger and work around being a small team."
The Knights front-court play was the key in the game.
"We started playing a triangle and two on Thomas and McGuire hoping to take them out of the game but they just got too many offensive rebounds and we couldn't do anything with them after that point," O'Neill said.
The Knights never led by more than six in the first half. Overstreet almost single handedly kept the game close with his 3-point shooting. The Knights led 41-37 at halftime, but Palomar seemed to be confident going into the half.
The second half was a different story for Palomar. San Diego City started to focus and open its lead, by going up by as much as 20 at one point. City started to look more like the second-ranked team in the state after halftime. Thomas was dominant during the game and was virtually unstoppable in the low post. The Knights' size allowed them to draw fouls when they drove to the basket as players shot 25 free throws compared to the Comets' 12.
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