Orlando Christian tops De La Salle, 44-36

Posted: December 20, 2011 - 12:04am

Orlando Christian tops De La Salle, 44-36

Orlando Christian's Isaac Cohen elevates to grab a rebound against De La Salle. Greg Yamamoto | SL

Wes Nakama
HHSAA

Orlando Christian (Orlando, Fla.) overcame a slow start last night to pull away from De La Salle (Concord, Calif.), 44-36, in the 'Iolani Prep Classic quarterfinals.

The Panthers will face Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland, Calif.) in tonight's 8 p.m. semifinal. The Spartans, ranked No. 30 in the ESPN Rise/Powerade Fab 50, falls into a 5 p.m. consolation bracket game against Fairfax.

Orlando took a 8-3 lead at the end of the first period and maintained that five-point advantage as the half closed out at 16-11.

The Panthers then started the third quarter with an 11-4 run to push the lead to 27-15 after Dre Clayton's jumper with 3:21 remaining. Isaac Cohen then made a steal and slam dunk four seconds before the buzzer to make it 31-18 heading into the fourth.

De La Salle chipped away and eventually closed it to 40-36 on Elliott Pitts' 3-pointer with 2:07 left, but Justice Montgomery sank four free throws in the final 41 seconds to seal the victory.

Pitts led all scorers with 13 points and four 3-pointers.

IMAGE GALLERY