There was a lot at stake for the Cerritos College men’s basketball team in their semi-final game of the Rio Hondo Tournament last week.
After defeating Los Angeles Trade-Tech, 72-52 in the first round, the team was facing Chaffey. Not only were the Panthers one of the top-rated teams in the state, it is also the school in which Falcon sophomore guard Ron Banks played last season.
He made every attempt to get his team as motivated as he was to defeat his former team. The Falcons played one of their better games of the season, but still came up short, as Chaffey posted a 72-68 win.
The loss dropped the Falcons into the third place game, where they posted a 70-63 win over South Coast Conference foe Los Angeles Harbor. The Seahawks are also coached by former Cerritos assistant coach Tony Carter-Loza and Todd Malecki.
This week, the Falcons (8-5) will open the Ventura Tournament on Thursday at 5:00 pm against Antelope Valley, the #3-rated team in the state. A win over the Marauders will pit Cerritos against the winner of the Ventura-US Navy winner at 7:00 pm on Friday, while a loss will put them up against the loser of the same game at 3:00 pm.
Banks did score 12 points and added six rebounds in the loss to Chaffey, while freshman forward Tezarray Banks led the team with 16 points and nine rebounds. He connected on 7-of-11 field goals and also added two assists. Ronald Banks led the team with five offensive rebounds, including two on the opening possession of the game.
Ronald Banks was riding the momentum of his performance against LA Trade-Tech, where he scored 29 points, with 16 of them coming in the first half. Freshman guard Cheo White chipped in with nine points and three steals in the win.
Once again, it was the hot hand of Ronald Banks that helped the team out to a 12-point halftime lead and eventual win over LA Harbor. He finished the game with 22 points and five rebounds, to earn All-Tournament accolades.
Sophomore guard Marcel Justin concluded with 13 points (11 in the second half) and eight rebounds.
Freshman guard Terrell Hendricks also added eight rebounds to go with his eight points, with Tezarray Banks finishing with five points and seven boards.
