The Compton Tarbabes made themselves at home last night in the Wilson Bruin Gym and cruised to a 75-52 victory on Moore League opening night. Compton guard Allan Guei captained the Tarbabe effort with 16 points, five assists, two steals and no turnovers. Wilson big man Stephan Sheperd led all scorers with 17 points and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.
While struggling against some of the best Southern California teams in December and posting a 4-9 record, Compton had no where to lay its collective tired head. “We were homeless,” said head coach Tony Thomas with a grin last night. For almost three weeks the Compton Gym was closed so they could put in a new floor, and after some devastatingly draining roadies and tournaments, the Tarbabes could not return to friendly confines for practice. “This is still a young team and it affected us,” said Thomas.
“It was like we were all alone down there [at San Diego Tournament],” said Guei. “It felt good to be close to home and have some people behind us… we need to stay hungry like that. That’s all we can do right now.”
The active Compton zone defense was hungry early, and forced three Wilson turnovers in the first three minutes while opening up an 11-4 lead. But the Bruins adjusted and started getting the ball inside to the 6’7” Sheperd. The senior poured in all the points during an 8-0 run and the quarter ended 16-12.
However, Sheperd wasn’t the only big man on the floor being active, and Compton’s Anthony January came flying in from the backside at the six minute mark for a tip dunk that got the Tarbabe fans and bench chattering. The play sparked a 13-6 run and Compton went to the locker room leading 38-25.
In the second half the Bruins worked hard to attack the more athletic Tarbabes and get to the line, but once they got there they went 9-for-18. The shooting woes continued as the game started to get out of hand and Wilson tried to shoot their way back into it. The Bruins were 3-for-13 from behind the arc and just 43% from the floor.
Sheperd did his best to drag his team back into it with a rebound, bucket and the foul to make it 43-36 in the third quarter, but that’s as close as the Bruins would get.
“[Sheperd] is a very good player, but we rotated our guys and stayed fresh,” said Thomas. The strategy paid off with Shelton Black, Devon Thomas and Melvin Lewis working hard down low, and Sheperd didn’t have a field goal in the fourth quarter. Take away Sheperd’s 12 rebounds, and the Tababes out-rebounded the Bruins 30-to-12.
Meanwhile, Guei kept his team chugging along in the transition game—taking full advantage of the 17 Wilson turnovers—and found January for an ally-oop that effectively ended the night. Compton closed the game on a 22-10 run in the fourth quarter.
Compton will return to the fresh home floor to see Cabrillo on Friday.