PC leads 42-19 at half to win big Friday, but falls by 2 and 16 pts.
SANTA MARIA (12-27-2018) / (UPDATED 12-28-2018, 12-29-2018 AND 12-30-2018) – Palomar opened play in the round-robin, pool-play Allan Hancock Classic with a 74-58 victory over Los Angeles Southwest on Friday night.
But they dropped a 65-63 heartbreaker to host Hancock on Saturday.
And Palomar finished the weekend 1-2 after they never got untracked in a 56-40 loss to Cuesta on Sunday.
Friday: Palomar 74, L.A. Southwest 58
The Comets jumped on top 42-19 at halftime and continued on to the victory.
Jamario Harris (Temecula Great Oak High School), Marek Sullivan (Torrey Pines High / Cal Poly SLO) and Antonio Green (Vista High) scored 47 points between them.
Harris led the Comets by scoring 20 points on 7-for-13 shooting from the field, (4-for-7 behind the 3-point arc), 2-for-2 free throw shooting, 2 rebounds, an assist and 2 steals.
Sullivan scored 17 points, going 7-for-8 from the field and 3-for-4 from the three throw stripe with 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals and a block.
Green scored 10 points, going 3-for-6 from the field, making his only 3-point attempt and shooting 3-for-4 from the free throw line with 4 rebounds, 7 assists and 6 steals.
Anthony Routh (Murrieta Mesa High) finished with 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. Anthony Smith (Vista Murrieta High) contributed 2 rebounds, an assist and a steal in tacking on 7 points.
Harris scored 16 points in the Comets' big first half. Sullivan was on fire the first half, scoring 15 points by going 7-for-7 from the field and also contributing 6 rebounds, 2 assists 2 steals and a block.
Saturday: Hancock 65, Palomar 63
The Comets battled back from a 40-32 halftime deficit to pull to within the final two-point margin.But they missed two free throws with one second remaining in regulation.
Harris (16 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal) led Palomar's scorers against the Bulldogs.
Sullivan added 14 points, went 5-for-9 from the field with a 3-pointer, a 3-for-4 night from the free throw stripe, 11 rebounds (4 on the offensive board), 7 assists, 2 steals and a block.
The Comets' other double-figure scorers were Green (11 points, going 4-for-7 from the field inclouding 3-for-4 on three-pointers) and Routh (10 points, a rebound, 2 assists and a steal). Michael Chatman (El Camino High) added 6 points and 5 rebounds, while Jacob Camargo (Oceanside High) added 6 points and a steal.
Sunday: Cuesta 56, Palomar 40
The Comets never seemed to recover from Saturday's two-point loss and led only once vs. the Cougars after Jamario Harris lay-up put coach John O'Neill's squad ahead 12-11 with 8:38 remaining in the first half.
Harris was the only Palomar player who scored in double figures with 10 points. He also had 5 tebounds, plus an assist, a steal and a blocked shot.
Sullivan contributed 10 rebounds, 2 steals, an assist and a clock. Green finished with 8 points along with 7 rebounds, an assist and a steal. Routh had 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Smith pulled down 7 rebounds.
------
The Comets will be idle until they host Southwestern on Wednesday, Jan. 9, and Grossmont on Friday, Jan. 11, in a pair of PCAC cross-division games, both in The Dome at 6 p.m. Cross-division match-ups officially count as non-conference games.