By Alan Der Ohannessian

The Falcons varsity boys basketball crushed the Rams 66-48 in the third game of the La Salle tournament held Wednesday night at Temple City High School. The win takes them to the championship match tonight, Thursday. Having lost to La Cañada in their previous match, the Falcons were determined to win.

The first quarter saw both teams maintaining an equal footing until Falcons forward Christian Misi scored three in a row. Play was maintained in the second quarter until, with two seconds left on the clock, guard Nick Kelly sunk a three pointer with one step behind the half court to give the Falcons a 33-25 lead going into halftime.

The Falcons opened the third quarter with a 7-2 run to extend their lead 40-27. The Falcons furthered the gap when guard Dylan Kilgour stole the ball, scored a layup and got an additional foul. He made the free-throw as the Falcons took a commanding lead 47-34.

The Rams woes continued. Falcons tight man-to-man defense forced Rams guard to carry the ball over, leading to a team turnover. On the next possession, Falcons ball movement led to a basket. Misi passed to Chris Chemlekian who sent it on to Kilgour for a three pointer. The Flacons offensive mentality capitalized on another opportunity when Misi got fouled on another possession attacking the basket; however he made one of two free throws as the third quarter ended.

In the fourth, the Flacons looked to seal the deal. They started with another run as they did in the previous quarter 6-2 and never looked back. Guard Kilgour scored six points in a row. He first scored off a pass by Rudy Avila and another on an assist by Misi. His third basket and sixth point came as he weaved through multiple Rams defense for a layup. The Rams managed to score only one basket during the run as guard Ryan Cosato scored a three pointer over Avilla.

By the time the Rams started to play half court trap defense the match was drawing to a close as the Falcons dribbled the ball until the buzzer sounded.

Falcons coach Shawn Zargarian was only displeased with the teams’ early effort. “I thought we came out without energy,” he said.

The Championship match is Thursday at the La Salle High School at 4:30 p.m.