Johnson’s Big Game Leads Warriors Past Lancers

TORRANCE, Calif. --- Sophomore Kai Johnson had a big scoring night as El Camino College downed Pasadena 63-55 on Friday afternoon at the ECC Gym Complex.

Johnson led all scorers with 20 points and added four steals. Justin Cricri was a rebound shy of a double-double, scoring 10 points and grabbing nine rebounds. Rocco Gaffoglio added 11 points and Landon Starnes had his first double-digit scoring game of the season with 10.

For the Lancers, Gor-El Zollicofer led the way with 17 points including the first 11 points of the game for the Lancers. Donovan Ford grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds in the loss.

The Lancers came out firing as Zollicofer hit his first three shots from beyond the arc and then added a layup for a personal 11-point run to give PCC an early 11-4 advantage.

But the Warriors weathered the early punch and caught up to the Lancers. The teams would go back and forth as they traded the lead seven times in the first half.

The Warriors held a slim 27-25 lead at the break but never relinquished the lead, going up by as many as 12 points in the second half. The Lancers would get the deficit down to six on a couple of occasions but Johnson scored 13 of his 20 in the final period to keep the Warriors in front for good.

The Warriors have now won five of their first seven games, their best start to the season since the 2022-23 season when they also went 5-2 and won eight of their first 10 outings. The team will look to continue their winning ways on Wednesday, Nov. 26 when Porterville comes to the ECC Gym Complex. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m.