Leigh's boys basketball team showed why it is the reigning league champs on Thursday night with a dominant 61-53 victory over visiting Milpitas. The Longhorns managed to take an early lead, finishing the first quarter with the score 16-8, and used stout defense to maintain the advantage for the rest of the contest.
Defensively, the Longhorns (5-2) stifled Milpitas (4-5) for most of the game, contesting almost every shot and giving the Trojans as few open looks as possible. However, it was clear in the third quarter that Leigh was beginning to take its foot of the gas, as Milpitas slowly attempted to climb its way back into the game, closing the gap to eight points, but the Trojans could never quite manage to completely wrestle away a lead from the Longhorns.
Offensively, the Longhorns spread the ball around, with eight different players scoring at least one basket. The offense’s spark for the night came from junior power forward Jared Williams, who was strong in the paint, going 4-for-11, but adding a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line to give him 12 points on the night.
“The team got the ball into good positions offensively, and gave us a lot of good looks for shots,” said Williams. “Our defense did a really good job of not letting up any easy points.”
From the 3-point arc, it was as if Milpitas’s Christian Rita and Leigh’s junior point guard Kyle Morrison were in a competition of their own, trading off 3-point attempts throughout the night. Rita went 3-for-7 from outside the arc, and 7-for-13 in total for the night, along with a perfect 2-for-2 on free throws. Morrison, not to be outdone, went 3-for-5 from beyond the arc, 7-for-13 in total, and also made both of his free throws.
Both teams showed a lot of promise in the game, and will have good chances to compete for a title in their respective league late in the year. When prompted for his thoughts on whether or not the Longhorns have what it takes to repeat as champs this year, Williams simply smiled and said, “I think it is too early to tell, but I would certainly like to do it again.”
