Box Score Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
WHITTIER, Calif. – The Whittier College Men's Basketball team returned to the court Wednesday night against Caltech and suffered a tough 104-78 loss.
A number of players from the team still had the Sunday tragedy of the crash that killed Kobe Bryant, Gianna Bryant, Sarah Chester, Payton Chester, John Altobelli, Keri Altobelli, Alyssa Altobelli, Christina Mauser, and Ara Zobayan on their minds. Prior to the game Whittier spent :08 seconds in remembrance of the victims and recognized two of them who were a part of the Poet family.
Our sadness hits home when Whittier College Alumni Sarah (George) Chester and her daughter Payton were identified as two of the victims. Sarah was a volleyball player from the Class of '97, while Payton was a 13-year old aspiring to someday play in the WNBA. Sarah met her husband Chris, who was a captain and four-year letterwinner for the Men's Basketball team. She is survived by Chris and their two sons. Sarah's mother Cathy George was also an administrator here at Whittier College overseeing the Education Department and the Graduate School Program for 30-years before retiring in 2018.
With the loss the Poets have now dropped four of their last five and move to 9-9, 4-5 SCIAC. They still are in the hunt for a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Tournament berth as they sit a game out of 4th.
Despite shooting 42% from the field and 32% from three-point territory it wasn't enough to stay up with the red-hot offense of Caltech who finished the night at a 59% clip from the field and 48% from three-point territory.
Whittier was outrebounded 38-26, was outscored in the paint 48-20, gave up 19 points off turnovers and 13 second chance points.
After trailing 55-33 at the break the Poets made a push in the second half putting up 45 points, but still didn't have an answer for Caltech's offense who went on to shoot 66% in the half. Nick Potthoff (Phoenix, AZ) led the WC offense with 17 points on 4-of-9 shooting. Kenyatta Louder (Compton, Calif.) reached double figures with 14 points and Journey Shank (Burbank, Calif.) added an 11 point, two assists, two steals effort, while going a perfect 7-for-7 from the free-throw line.
Off the bench Nick Colosi (La Mirada, Calif.) posted 10 points with four rebounds and freshman JoJo Neal (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) recorded his best game with nine points on a perfect shooting night.
Whittier remains at home this Saturday, February 1 when they host Claremont-M-S beginning at 2:00pm.
