Basketball

Walnut’s Magical & Historic Run Ends on Tuesday Night; La Mirada Defeats Mustangs, 79-69, in CIF D-2A Quarterfinal

Feb 15 2023 02:51:27

Boys Basketball:

The remarkable and historic Walnut season came to an end on Tuesday.

The Mustangs fell, 79-69, in Tuesday’s CIF-SS D-2A quarterfinal round contest at La Mirada.

Trailing by five at the half, the Matadores went on a 19-12 run in the third period to get a little breathing room.

Malik Khouzam closed out his high school career with 25 points and six rebounds.

In 2022-23, Khouzam became the program’s all-time scoring and steals leader.

And the Mustangs’ 28 wins is the best in school history.

Joby Barnes provided 21 points.

Gavin Ibrahim chipped in with 17.

The Walnut trio (Khouzam, Barnes & Ibrahim) combined to score 63 of the Mustangs’ 69 points.

Julien Gomez had a game-high 29 points for La Mirada,

And Morgan Smith scored 19 in a winning effort.

Box Score:
W: 21-8-12-28-(69)
LM: 26-8-19-26-(79)

Walnut scoring: Malik Khouzam 26, Joby Barnes 21, Gavin Ibrahim 17, Adrian Triplett 4, James Lee 2

La Mirada scoring: Julien Gomez 29, Morgan Smith 19, Rene Arce 7, Chris Perez 6, Michael Torres 6, Sean Cervantes 3, Anegi Castillo 2

Records: Walnut (28-3); La Mirada (24-8)

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