Virgil Buensuceso did his best Kobe impression, outscoring LA Marshall all by himself before leaving the game after the third quarter in Eagle Rock's 65-31 win over the Barristers Thursday afternoon in Eagle Rock.

Buensuceso scored 27 points (which, incidentally, is the same total Kobe scored later that night against the Cleveland Cavaliers) and dished out 5 assists as the Eagles pushed their record to 7-4 overall and 2-0 in the Northern League. Marshall continues its struggles, falling to 0-10 overall and 0-3 in league play.

Buensuceso passed to freshman Steven Phillips for a basket to put Eagle Rock ahead in the game's opening seconds, and scored 11 of the Eagles' first 17 points. The Eagles jumped out to a 14-0 lead before Marshall's Jason Aguilar scored on a putback 5:34 into the game. Then Buensuceso drained a three to push the lead to 15 at 17-2. By the end of the first quarter, it was 23-6 Eagles and Buensuceso had 13 points and 2 assists.

From there, the Eagles just continued to widen their lead. Buensuceso grabbed a steal and went in for the basket to push the margin to 21 at 29-8 with 5:12 left in the second quarter. And Damien Fuentes grabbed a steal and went in for the basket to push the lead to 31 at 39-9 with 1:30 left in the second quarter. At the half, Eagle Rock led, 41-9, after Fuentes fed Kurt Hoverson for a basket just before the horn.

In the second half, the two questions were how many points Buensuceso would end up with and if the game would go to running time. Buensuceso answered the first by scoring a FG+FT 3-point play with 12 seconds left in the third quarter to finish with 27 points. And when the fourth quarter began, Aaron Frescas scored on a putback with just over 7 minutes left to push the margin to 40 at 61-21 and, per the CIF's "mercy rule" made it a running clock.

Buensuceso was the only scorer in the game to reach double figures. Josh Jovanelly, better-known for receiving a pass in the final seconds of the LA City Invitational Championship football game that won the game for the Eagles as the clock expired, scored 8 points and played the part of the passer, dishing out a game-high 8 assists. Dennis Boyd grabbed a team-high 6 rebounds for the Eagles.

For Marshall, three players scored 6 points each to lead the scorers. One of them, Colby Whitfield, also grabbed a game-high 8 rebounds.

Thursday, January 12, 2006 – 4 pm

At Eagle Rock HS, Eagle Rock (Los Angeles)

Northern League

3-P.J. Rodriguez, PG – 1/1 fg, 2 stl, 2 pts

15-Ryan Quintanilla, SF – 1/6 fg, 1/ 2 ft, 5 reb, 2 ast, 3 blk, 1 pf, 3 pts

21-LeMar Marshall, PF – 3/8 fg, 6 reb, 1 ast, 6 pts

25-Eric Butler, SG – 3/7 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 6 pts

31-Colby Whitfield, C – 2/17 fg, 2/4 ft, 8 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 2 pf, 6 pts

32-Jason Aguilar, F – 2/4 fg, 0/2 ft, 5 reb, 1 ast, 4 pts

12-Kevin Tilley, G – 0/3 fg, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 2 pf, 0 pts

24-Juan Amaya, F – 2/3 fg, 1 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 4 pts

22-Paul Marshall, F – 0/1 fg, 0 pts

Team rebounds: 6

Totals: 14/50 fg (.280), 3/8 ft (.375), 34 reb, 8 ast, 4 blk, 6 stl, 6 pf, 51 pts

3-pt fg (0): None

Turnovers (23): Whitfield 8, Rodriguez 4, Quintanilla 3, L.Marshall 3, Tilley 3, Aguilar, Amaya

13-Andrew Kolodinski, SF – 0/2 fg, 2 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 pf, 0 pts

15-Dennis Boyd, C – 0/3 fg, 6 reb, 1 ast, 2 blk, 2 stl, 1 pf, 0 pts

21-Virgil Buensuceso, SG – 11/16 fg, 4/4 ft, 4 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl, 2 pf, 27 pts

23-Josh Jovanelly, PG – 4/5 fg, 4 reb, 8 ast, 2 stl, 8 pts

45-Steven Phillips, PF – 3/6 fg, 1 reb, 1 stl, 6 pts

25-Damien Fuentes, F – 4/12 fg, 3 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl, 1 pf, 8 pts

31-Patrick Allen, C – 4/4 fg, 4 reb, 1 stl, 2 pf, 8 pts

35-Kurt Hoverson, G – 2/5 fg, 1 reb, 2 ast, 4 pts

11-Ariel Hutalla, G – 0/2 fg, 1 stl, 1 pf, 0 pts

33-Aaron Frescas, F – 2/2 fg, 3 reb, 1 stl, 1 pf, 4 pts

Team rebounds: 0

Totals: 30/57 fg (.426), 4/4 ft (1.000), 28 reb, 21 ast, 3 blk, 15 stl, 9 pf, 65 pts

3-pt fg (1): Buensuceso

Turnovers (11): Allen 3, Hutalla 2, Fuentes 2, Buensuceso, Jovanelly, Hoverson, Frescas

Marshall 6-3-12-10=31

Eagle Rock 23-18-16-8=65

Marshall 0-10 overall, 0-3 in league

Eagle Rock 7-4 overall, 2-0 in league

Buensuceso had outscored the Marshall team, 27-21, when he left the game for good after the third quarter.