Feb 5, 2003 By Jim Kriek For The 4 min read

CALIFORNIA – No matter how you want to figure the occasion, it was really a “grand” basketball night for California. “Grand” in the sense that the 82-42 win over visiting Avella kept the Trojans tied for first place in Section 2-A, with the ultimate chance to make it an even grander night with just one more win.

Secondly, the night was really “Grand” for senior Rick Cope, who swished a free throw with 2:20 left to play, giving him 26 points to that moment, and 1,000 total for his four-year career as a California basketball player.

After getting his “Grand” total, and acknowledging the standing ovation from the crowd, Cope went back to the foul line and calmly dropped in his 1,001st point.

The win left California 16-5, including 10-1 in Section 2-A, and tied with Geibel Catholic for first place, with their big rematch game coming up Friday night at the Geibel court. If California wins, the Trojans own the championship outright, but if Geibel repeats a previous win, the Gators will be on top.

Tuesday night’s play by the Trojans, especially the second quarter, was a perfect example of how high school basketball is supposed to be played. In that 19-point run, the Trojans scored, rebounded, hawked the ball and pressed – everything that a team is supposed to do to win a game – and they did it flawlessly. For the most part, Avella got one shot, and California was headed back up court with the ball.

Avella coach Emil Sauro said, “That is a playoff team. A good unit. They took everything away from us. We tried, but they ran away from us. They did everything a team must do in order to win.”

California coach Steve Luko said, “We executed great on offense. We were patient, we worked the ball, and the offense was there all around, although the defense was not as aggressive as I would like it to be.”

With the exception of a 2-2 tie on goals by Ryan Robinson (CAL) and Mikel Kettler (AV), California led from wire-to-wire, including 17-11 at the quarter, 36-19 at halftime and 66-26 after three.

Midway through the second quarter, Avella pulled back to a 25-15 deficit. Shane Tonkavich, who will also be reaching 1,000 points before the season ends, then hit a layup, stole a pass and scored on a layin and hit a three on the line, pushing the Trojans to a 32-15 lead.

As the third got under way, Cope laid one in, Nathan Marquis had a free one for Avella, then Dan DeMoss scored in front, Cope from the circle, and Tonkavich added long three for a 45-20 lead.

Marquis and Kettler scored for the Eagles, around a Tonkavich layin, then the Trojans ran off a string of baskets. DeMoss scored on a putback, Tonkavich hit a shot from from the corner and a layup, Cope scored on a layup, Woody Stewart nailed a basket from the side, Tonkavich followed with a steal and go, then he and Cope got layins on Stewart passes, for a 63-24 lead.

Cope called his “Grand Night” a “very big night for all of us. I knew coming in I needed 26 to reach 1,000 and I wanted to get it at home, for this was my last home game. In four years on the varsity, the 27 tonight is a career high for me in one game.

“I had been averaging about 18, but my teammates told me they were going to feed me the ball and I was to go for the points. What makes it also a great honor is that I’m only the third player in California history to reach 1,000. The Rossi Brothers (Matt and Pat) were the other two ahead of me and just to be named with them is a great honor.”

Luko added, “The other players look to Rick as a leader, offensively and on defense both. He’s a good all-around player. I know he wasn’t worried about getting his thousand, he figured they would come eventually.”

To round out the “Grand” feeling, Cope was game-high scorer with 27 points, one ahead of Tonkavich and DeMoss had 12.

Kettler led Avella with 12.

As he left the gym, Cope added, “This was a big game for us, but we have an ever bigger game coming up on Friday.”

And he would like nothing more than to get his next “Grand” started with another “grand night” all around.