Cuesta Hits the Roof on Valley Floor

VAN NUYS — Can you say incompetent?

That was the question that Valley College men’s basketball coach Doug Michelson asked about the officials with 8 1/2 minutes left in Saturday’s night’s Western State Conference interdivision game against Cuesta, but he could have been talking about his own team.

The Monarchs (14-8) began the week as the No. 24-ranked team in the state, but they looked terrible in a 93-52 loss to No. 10 Cuesta (20-4).

The Cougars’ bus broke down on the trip from San Luis Obispo--postponing the start of the game by 75 minutes--yet it was Valley that appeared to be fatigued and a step behind all game.

The Monarchs made 19 of 47 shots and committed 27 turnovers to go along with 34 fouls.

They trailed by 24 points at halftime and never got closer than 23 in the second half.

In contrast to Valley, Cuesta made 23 of 52 shots, 44 of 53 free throws and had only 13 turnovers.

The Cougars shot only 40% (10 of 25) in the second half, but it didn’t matter because they hit 27 of 30 free throws.

Cuesta had four players who scored in double figures, topped by Marcus Bloom with 15.

Onaje Longmire scored 12 points for Valley and Leon Brisport added nine.

The Monarchs trailed, 45-21, at halftime after being outplayed in every facet of the game in the first 20 minutes of play.

The Monarchs made only six of 22 shots, committed 14 turnovers, and were nine of 18 from the free-throw line.

In contrast, Cuesta hit 13 of 27 shots, committed eight turnovers and made 17 of 23 free throws.

Cuesta, which came into the game with the worst defense in the conference allowing an average of 83.6 points, had its second-best defensive performance of the season.