Share of Alpha Title Eludes L. A. Baptist

Scott Bruce scored 17 points and teammate Josh Feldman added 13 as Western Christian High edged L. A. Baptist, 59-54, Friday night in an Alpha League finale at L. A. Baptist.

The Knights needed the win to finish in a three-way tie with Village Christian and Montclair Prep for first in the league.

Bruce began to tighten the noose early, though, scoring nine points in the first quarter. “We knew it was do or die coming in here,” Bruce said. “We had confidence and simply clicked tonight.”

L. A. Baptist (17-7 overall, 6-4 in league play) started the game pressing Western Christian, but crisp passes by guards Chris Bruce and Kenny Crawford to forwards Scott Bruce and Darren Schager led to easy baskets.

Dave Unter used his 6-foot-3 height inside to score seven of his 12 points in the first quarter for L. A. Baptist, which led, 17-14, until Scott Bruce hit a three-point shot in the final seconds of the first quarter.

Western Christian (14-11, 6-4) built a six-point lead in the second quarter and took a 33-30 edge into intermission. The Fighting Lancers extended the advantage to 52-44 after three quarters.