Points Hard to Find for Flintridge Prep

PASADENA — Good defense will only get a team so far. At some point you have to put some points on the board, and the inability to do that proved to be the downfall of the Flintridge Prep boys' basketball team Saturday night.

The Rebels contained the offense of host Maranatha for long stretches of the nonleague game, only to fall further and further behind through long scoring droughts of their own, before losing 58-30.

"We just don't have the ability to get it going [offensively]," said Rebels Coach Garrett Ohara, who was without leading scorer Aaron Fried (14 ppg. average) Saturday. "We can play good defense, but without [Fried] we don't have much of a threat outside."

Prep (9-14, 2-5 in Prep League) trailed 17-7 after the first quarter, thanks to second and even third opportunities afforded to the Minutemen.

Maranatha (17-7, 7-0 in Alpha League) collected nine offensive rebounds in the first quarter, capitalizing with a total of nine second-chance points.

It was a problem the Rebels quickly remedied in the second quarter, holding the Minutemen to just four points over the first six minutes, while going on a 6-0 run to close the gap to 21-17.

Maranatha answered with a 7-0 run of its own to take an 11-point halftime lead, having only scored 28 first-half points.

The Rebels continued to make stops into the second half, allowing just 10 third-quarter points.

However, they only managed to score two of their own in the quarter, on Jonathan Woo's driving layup with 5:15 remaining.

"This is probably the sixth time this season where we've scored two points in a quarter, so its nothing new," Ohara said. "The guys try, we just need to get better in that area."

The fourth quarter saw Maranatha finally break out offensively, for 20 points, and yet more offensive struggles for the Rebels.

Prep went another 2:30 into the quarter before scoring, although it did mount a brief 6-0 run to prompt a Maranatha timeout.

The leading scorer for the Rebels was Alex Feliciano, who had eight points and eight rebounds.

Matt Andesuyan added four points and nine rebounds.

Prep closed out its season with a frustrating home loss against Prep League rival Pasadena Poly on Tuesday. The final score was 42-43. Prep finished 2-6 in league play.