Boys’ basketball: Santa Monica falls to Pleasant Grove, 73-57
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Teams are not supposed to shoot very well at Sleep Train Arena. And during the first five games of the CIF state championships on Friday in Sacramento, few did.
But in the Division I final, Pleasant Grove, led by guards Matthew Hayes and Malik Thames, made 48% of its shots en route to a 73-57 victory over Santa Monica, giving Northern California its first win in three boys and three girls games.
Hayes scored 19 points and Thames 16.
Chris Smith led Santa Monica with 20 points. Erron Vaughn added 10 points.
It was a rough night for Santa Monica’s leading scorer, Jordan Mathews. He was limited to nine points on three-of-10 shooting. He suffered a back bruise in the first half during a fall, hurt his knee in the third quarter in a collision and finally fouled out early in the fourth quarter.
‘It wasn’t our night,’ Coach James Hecht said.
Santa Monica, the Southern Section 1A champion, finished 29-7. Pleasant Grove improved to 28-6.
-- Eric Sondheimer