Knights Advance to Fullerton Tourney Title Game, But Fall to Sequoias

After winning last week's Grossmont tournament championship, the No. 7 Knights won the first two games at the Fullerton College tournament to make it to another title game, but ultimately fell to No. 14 Sequioias, 83-65. Jonathan Ogugua, who is averaging 18.8 points per game (tied for 21st in Calif.), led the Knights with 16 points, while Jackson Larsen provided 14 points and four rebounds off the bench in the loss that ended their 5-game win streak.

San Diego City (9-3) opened the Fullerton tournament with a 72-61 win over No. 16 Citrus in a game that was tight until the Knights pulled away in the final seven minutes. Makiah Morris led City in scoring with a season-high 16 points, while also pulling down eight rebounds. Drew Cisse was impactful on both sides of the court as he put up 11 points, 11 rebounds, and a season-best seven blocks. He is averaging 2.3 blocks per game and is currently fourth in the state with 28 total blocks. 

In the semifinals vs. Chaffey, Ogugua led the way with 15 points, four rebounds, and five assists in a game in which the Knights never trailed. They jumped out to a 16-6 lead, and although Chaffey came back to tie it late in the first half, the Knights used a 15-5 run to take a lead they would never relinquish. 

Josh Williams added 10 points and four rebounds in the 67-54 semifinal win, while Cisse had eight points and 11 rebounds. Taleh Wade hit three 3-pointers on his way to 11 points. 

The Knights were not able to get their second consecutive tourney championship as they were outplayed by Sequioas on Saturday night. Sequoias hit 13-of-25 from 3-point land, while the Knights only managed to make six of their 20 attempts from deep. Another big disparity came at the free throw line with the Knights making 5-of-10, while Sequioias converted 12-of-15 from the line. 

With tournament season coming to a close for the Knights, they will now take the next few days to prepare for the start of the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference season, which begins with a home game on Wednesday, December 15 against Cuyamaca at 5 p.m. They will also host Mesa on December 17 at 5 p.m. and then have nearly three weeks off before resuming the season at Southwestern on January 5.