Boys Basketball: Cross-town rivalry continues at Eagles’ nest
EL CENTRO – El Centro’s crosstown rival Central Spartans and Southwest Eagles high schools boys basketball teams had their first Imperial Valley League meeting with a packed El Centro crowd at the Eagles’ b-ball roost, where the Spartans overcame the Eagles 59-30.
Central’s offense was led by Jacob Vargas with 20 points while Seth Johnson added 10 points and Kaleb Flores finished with nine points.
The Eagles had senior guard Jacob Kim end the game with 21 points and William Lilien contributed seven points.
The Spartans dominated the first half as they headed into half-time leading, 26-13.
“It was going to be a tough game, they came out with a lot of energy in the first half,” said Southwest’s Jacob Kim, “but these are also the most fun games; having a packed crowd, seeing both Central and Southwest students come out for the game was great.”
“The mentality was to come in here and show out for Central,” said Central’s Vargas. “I came here freshman and sophomore year, so it was good to come back here and compete.”
Despite scoring 19 points in the first quarter, the Eagles held the Spartans to just seven points in the second quarter.
“We knew they were going to play their best game, we each had big crowds come out and support, so we knew it was going to be tough,” said Central guard Erik Longoria.
“The rivalry is fun,” Kim said. “Being at Southwest for four years and playing your cross-town rivals is always fun.”
After scoring 18 points in the third, the Spartans headed into the fourth quarter up 44-18.
Following the temporary loss of the Spartan’s leading scorer, Jared Martin, Central has had Vargas fill the offensive void by averaging 16 points per game.
“I try to score as much as possible, play defense, and do everything I can to help my team win,” Vargas said.
The Eagles added 12 points in the fourth to close out the long-standing cross-town rivalry game, at 59-30, Central.
As one of the Eagles’ senior leaders, Kim attributes much of the season’s highlights to the team building that has taken place since the start of the season.
“This season has been about just bonding with the new guys on varsity,” he said. “It’s been fun building new relationships and getting better as a team.”
Across town, the Spartans have also been working on building team chemistry and developing a stronger bond as the season progresses.
“Having intense practices has helped a lot with our team dynamic,” Longoria said. “Going at each other at practice helps us as players and brings us closer together as a team. It is a balance, but we try to help each other by identifying each other’s weaknesses and improving them during practice, so we are all ready for the game.”
The long-time rivals will meet for the last time this IVL season for boys basketball on Friday, February 10, at Central’s Spartan Arena in El Centro.
“This win, like all the others, is just making us push harder in practice,” Central’s Vargas said. “We have a pretty big game against [Palo Verde] so we have to leave this win behind and just prepare for our next game.”
Both teams will return to the court today, Thursday, January 26, as the Central Spartans will see how they match up against the Palo Verde
Yellow Jackets in Blythe, while the Southwest Eagles have a non-league match up against the Imperial Tigers in Imperial.
Both games are scheduled for a 7 p.m. start time.