KFDM COOP Posted February 6, 2009 Report Posted February 6, 2009 Bears 'slam' second-place Livingston Van Wade The Orange Leader LITTLE CYPRESS — The Little Cypress-Mauriceville Bears have seen their share of growing pains this season. After all, just one senior dotted the roster going into Friday night’s game against second-place Livingston in District 20-4A. The Bears, however, want to finish the season strong with their “young guns†and they did just that by spanking the Lions 63-49 at The Bear Cave. LC-M (11-17, 3-8) used the strong muscle inside by senior post Jake Tsuchiya and the outside magic by sophomore guard Christian Harley and a superb performance from the other six members of the cast to stun the swift Lions ( 20-8, 8-3). Tsuchiya bruised his way in the paint for a game-high 19 points and a game-high nine rebounds with 12 of his points coming in the first half. Harley ripped off 13 points and had four three-pointers for the night, including three in the pivotal second half. “I couldn’t be more prouder of our kids,†said Bear coach Darin Harley. “I thought we handled Livingston’s full-court pressure the best we could. Hats off to big Jake (Tsuchiya). He opened things up for us early inside, thanks to superb passes by Hunter Gonzales, Christian and Cameron Johnson. That helped set up a strong outside game for us in the second half.†The Bears controlled the game from the very beginning as they held an 11-6 lead after the first period after Tsuchiya torched the Lions for eight points in the period. LC-M stretched it to a 27-20 advantage at the end of the half after guard Johnny Epps, who had six points and played excellent defense, hoisted a three-pointer that fell at the buzzer. Livingston picked up the pace to start the third and got to within 42-38 at the end of the period. Devin Harris, who led the Lions with 13 points and eight rebounds, had seven points in the period. The Bears silenced any thoughts of a Livingston comeback at the start of the fourth as Johnson and Harley hit back-to-back three-pointers that push the LC-M lead to 50-38. Livingston did go on a 7-0 run to get as close as 56-49 with 1:43 left but LC-M finished it off with the last six points. Johnson had a superb defensive outing for the Bears, collecting five steals to go along with seven rebounds. Gonzales had six points and five boards while Preston Armstrong had six points and five boards and Frank Fuller added six points. Livingston's Justin Miksch pumped in 11 points and had three three-pointers while Jerrell Wallace added nine points. The Bears held a decisive 33-21 rebounding edge. The Bears coughed up the ball 19 times while the Lions had 18 turnovers. The Bears went just 10-of-20 from the free-throw line while the Lions were 3-of-3. “I was a little harder on the kids tonight, I think we were all fired up tonight,†said Harley. “This is what this team is capable of. I’ve been pretty patient with them this year because of our youth. With three games left, I want to see this type of effort to finish off the season. This team has excellent potential down the line and I’m looking forward to it.†The Bears will visit Orange County rival Vidor Friday
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