Griffins Oscar Limon earns PCAC Athlete of the Week

PACIFIC COAST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE / DEC. 12, 2016

 Comets’ Eskam, Griffs’ Limon share Men’s AOTW award

Eskam, a freshman from Carlsbad High School and a transfer from Arizona State University, where he was a redshirt last season, became the second straight Comet to win the heavyweight division at the CCCAA State Championship Tournament.

Eskam decisioned East Los Angeles’ Bradon Sotomayor 3-2 in the heavyweight division finals in the tournament at Victor Valley College. Eskam received byes through the first two rounds, defeated Chabot’s Gabriel Cardona by major decision 11-0 in the quarterfinals, then reached the championship bout with a 5-3 semifinal victory over Angel Merical of Fresno City College.

Eskam became Palomar’s 35th state champion and his win over Sotomayor in the final match of the two-day event lifted the Comets past rival Mt. SAC 114 points to 113.5 points for fourth place in the state out of 20 teams in the tournament. Palomar finished behind champion Fresno, second-place Cerritos and third-place Sacramento City College. The fifth-place-team, Bakersfield College, finished 74 points in back of the Comets with 60 points.

Limon, the G-House’s 5-foot-11 freshman point guard out of Otay Ranch High School, had a huge weekend for the Griffins as they won three straight games to capture the championship of the 44th Santa Barbara City College Classic.

Limon’s statistics for the tournament were 29 points, 13 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 steals and one championship.

“We had a great team effort and a different leading scorer and rebounder each game, but the one constant we had was great guard play from Oscar on both ends of the floor,” Grossmont coach Doug Weber said. “He played fantastic defensive all three games, hit a late-game free throw and grabbed the game-ending rebound vs. Columbia, and provided great effort and passion, plus superb leadership, all three days.”

The Griffins downed Columbia 65-61, College of the Desert 78-66 and Bakersfield 67-65 on the way to the tournament title.

Honorable mention was awarded to basketball players Brett Hollins from MiraCosta, Tre Nottingham from Mt. San Jacinto and Jackson Strong of Palomar.

Hollins, a 6-foot-4 freshman forward from Joshua Springs High School in Yucca Valley, scored 33 points as the Spartans ran their winning streak to four games with two non-conference victories. He scored 16 points in an 83-80 win over a West Los Angeles team that came in with a 6-1 record. Hollins followed that performance by hitting the game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer to beat an El Camino team that was 7-4 coming in. He finished with 16 points and 8 rebounds.

Nottingham, a 6-foot-1 sophomore guard from Rancho Verde High School in Moreno Valley, scored 60 points as the Eagles reached the consolation finals of the 45th Riverside City College Invitational where they fell to a 9-3 El Camino Compton Center team 97-72. Nottingham had 12 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists in an 82-70 win over Barstow. He had 15 points, 5 rebounds and 4 steals in a 79-60 loss to Fullerton, then came back with 21 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists in a 90-83 win over East Los Angeles in the consolation semifinals.

Strong, a 6-foot-4 freshman guard out of Torrey Pines High School, led Palomar to an 85-69 non-conference victory over Orange Coast with 26 points, including 6 three-pointers.