Men's Basketball spent the weekend in San Diego at the Grossmont Tournament in El Cajon. The Cougars tipped off against #2 West Valley to open the tournament on Friday and pushed the undefeated Vikings to double-overtime, before succumbing, 96-90. 2021 Team MVP Darryl Brooks II (Menemonee Falls, WI-pict) netted a career-high 25 points against West Valley, while Freshman Forward Moritz Schneider (Zurich, SUI) also posted his career-high with 21 points of his own. Cuesta's line-up has only produced four 20-point games over the season and two of them came in Friday's overtime loss to West Valley, while two of them have come from Reserve Forward Kobe Pearson (Melbourne, AUS-pict). Pearson enjoyed his initial 20-point performance by scoring 24 points in the Cougars' win over West Hills-Coalinga on November 16 and set a team season-high with 29 points to lead Cuesta past LA Trade-Tech, 64-57, this past Saturday. Pearson knocked down 7 of his 12 shots from beyond the arch and converted all six of his free throws to beat the Beavers, 64-47, and lead Cuesta to the consolation finals. On Sunday, the Cougars were matched with #18 in the South Region Saddleback. The Gauchos lost, handily, to #19 in the State Palomar, 82-65, in the first round, but crushed Palo Verde, 99-81, in their semi-final. Both teams were showing some wear and tear on the final day. The Gauchos and Cougars piled up a combined 318 points on the first two nights, but the Gauchos had to outlast the Cougars, 57-48, in the tournament finale as the two teams combined to make only 36 of 101 shots from the floor. The loss dropped the Cougars to 3-6 on the season.
Cuesta Men's Basketball is back on the road this week for a pair of games East of the Golden State Freeway. On Thursday (6 PM), Cuesta plays at West Hills-Lemoore and to complete their swing through the West Hills Community College District. The Cougars return to the road to play at Fresno City on Saturday (5 PM). The Rams were ranked #11 in the pre-season poll but are currently 4-5 on the season.
