WALNUT CREEK, CA - The Las Lomas boys basketball team had a strong night from juniors Devin Payne and Robert Prince to win the inaugural DAL-Foothill championship, 64-57 over Campolindo on Thursday night.
“It's an amazing feeling to win the league championship after six years.” Las Lomas head coach Brian Dietschy said. “Going into the game, the goal was to start out strong and stay strong.”
Payne and Prince accounted for 22 points and 20 points respectively for the Knights.
“We knew [Campolindo] was a good team” Payne said. “They tried to come back in the second quarter, but we didn't let that hold us back.”
Campolindo cut the deficit to five points with two minutes left in the half with a pair of layups from Hunter Clarke and a three-pointer from Will Cummins. Las Lomas countered with a pair of free-throws from Payne and a layup from Tanner Wallace, making the score 29-20 in favor of the Knights at the break.
Las Lomas surged through the second half. Payne and Blake Thorpe made three layups, and Prince and Anthony Haskett each scored a three-pointer. The Cougars would counter with layups from Chris Wright, Mike Navruzyan, and John Torchio, and a pair of free-throws from Trevin Kroichick.
In the final quarter, the Cougars attempted to take the lead with two three-pointers by Clarke and a three-pointer from Carter Mahaney to cut the deficit to eight points with under a minute to play. The Knights prevented the Campolindo comeback with free-throws from Jason Holman, Payne, and Prince.
