Irvine Valley's men's basketball team opened its own 2013-14 Classic tournament with a resounding 70-54 victory over Imperial Valley on Thursday night.
The Lasers moved into the championship semifinals and will face Long Beach City Friday night at 7 p.m.
Long Beach City pulled away in the second half for a 88-73 win over defending tournament champion Ventura in the final game of the night on Thursday.
The other championship semifinal will feature Cerritos against Cuyamaca.
Cerritos defeated Canyons, 81-74, and Cuyamaca surprised Santa Monica, 70-66, in other games on Thursday. Santa Monica had a record of 3-0 heading into the tournament.
Irvine Valley improved its record to 3-0 win the win over Imperial Valley.
The Lasers led, 43-33, at halftime and were ahead by as many as 21 points in the second half.
IVC shot an impressive 55.1 percent (27 of 49) from the field in the game and 38.9 percent (7 of 18) from three-point range.
Meanwhile, Imperial Valley shot just 37.8 percent (17 of 45) from the field, including 28.6 percent (6 of 21) in the second half.
Irvine Valley also out-rebounded Imperial Valley, 36-26 in the contest. And the Lasers had more assists to turnovers (15 to 13).
Three players scored in double figures. Sophomore guard Shaquille Hunter led the way with 18 points. He was 6 of 12 from the field. Hunter also added two assists and three steals in 29 minutes.
Sophomore center Declan Daly had his second-straight double-double for IVC with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Daly was a perfect 6 of 6 from the field.
Freshman wing Jimmy Golden added 11 points and sophomore guard Dathon Spencer contributed eight points and three steals for the Lasers.
Freshman point guard Jalen Hall chipped in four points and six assists.
The only real negative for the Lasers in the game was their effort at the free throw line. IVC shot just 40.9 percent, making 9 of 22 attempts.
Imperial Valley was led by Miles Hamilton with 18 points.
Nov. 21 First Day Results
Cerritos def. Canyons, 81-74 (Cerritos was led by Anthony January with 17 points, Kevin Conrad with 15 points and Josh Bell with 10 rebounds. Canyons got 21 points and seven rebounds from Zach Davis, 15 points from David Horst and 14 points and 12 rebounds from Ilya Ilyayev.)
Cuyamaca def. Santa Monica, 70-66 (Cuyamaca out-scored Santa Monica, 49-34, in the second half, erasing an 11-point halftime deficit. Cuyamaca was led by Jeff Bartley with 16 points and Garrett Larch-Miller with 12 points. Santa Monica got 11 points from Keilan Horton.)
Irvine Valley def. Imperial Valley, 70-54
Long Beach City def. Ventura, 88-73 (Long Beach City out-scored Ventura, 55-39, in the second half to erase a one-point halftime deficit. Long Beach City had five players score in double figures led by Kristien Owens with 22 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals, Ryan Stewart with 16 points and nine rebounds, Elijah Gains with 16 points and Brandon Staton with 15 points and eight assists. Ventura got 20 points and nine rebounds from Anthony Morman and 17 points from Jalen Young.)
Nov. 22 Second Day Schedule
Canyons vs. Santa Monica at 1 p.m. - consolation
Imperial Valley vs. Ventura at 3 p.m. - consolation
Cerritos vs. Cuyamaca at 5 p.m. - championship semis
Long Beach City vs. Irvine Valley at 7 p.m. - championship semis
