MidValleySports.Com

By Tim Peterson

(El Monte) – Arroyo jumped out to a big lead in the first half but then had to hang on to beat Rosemead 53-49 Monday night on Senior Night at Arroyo. With the victory Arroyo moved into sole possession of first place in the Mission Valley League.

The Knights came out of the gate firing in the first quarter. Johnny Vargas buried two three pointers and Jason Trieu and Luis Ventura also knocked down threes as Arroyo hit four in the quarter from beyond the arc. The Knights rolled into the second quarter up 16-4.

Arroyo cooled off in the second quarter but Rosemead couldn’t make a dent and the Knights took a 28-13 lead into the half.

Arroyo was still up 14 mid-way through the third quarter when Rosemead made a push. The push became a shove as the Panthers went on a 17-0 run. They outscored Arroyo 26-8 in the third as Jacob Curiel nailed three shots from long distance and Rhys Anderson, who had been quiet up until that point, also hit a three and scored 11 points in the quarter. The Panthers hit five threes in the third quarter and by the time the buzzer sounded Rosemead had forged a 39-36. lead.

In the fourth quarter the Panthers were still up 49-48 when Trieu buried one from beyond the arc to give Arroyo a 51-49 lead with 45 seconds left. After a Rosemead miss from three-point range Vargas hit one of two free throws to make it 52-49 with 22 seconds left.

On the next possession Anderson missed from long distance and Arroyo pulled down the rebound with four seconds left to secure the victory.

For Rosemead Anderson led the team with 19 points. Curiel had nine and Leo Fang and JaRon Phan each added eight.

Vargas scored 14 for Arroyo and Ventura finished with 13. Elias Juarez scored 12 in the paint and Trieu added six including the big three down the stretch.

Arroyo improved to 14-9 overall but more importantly 9-2 and first place in the Mission Valley League. Rosemead dropped to 16-11 and 8-3, one game back of Arroyo.

R 04 09 26 10 49

A 16 12 08 17 53