L-R: Bryce Hamilton, Darius Brown II, Darius Mason, Tavian Percy, Omari Moore By BRIAN REED-BAIOTTO, Sports Editor When Pasadena takes the court Saturday night at 8:30, it will have been exactly 365 days since the Bulldogs fell to Harvard-Westlake on that same floor in the 2017 CIF-SS Division 1A final. PHS fell behind early and […]
L-R: Bryce Hamilton, Darius Brown II, Darius Mason, Tavian Percy, Omari Moore
By BRIAN REED-BAIOTTO, Sports Editor
When Pasadena takes the court Saturday night at 8:30, it will have been exactly 365 days since the Bulldogs fell to Harvard-Westlake on that same floor in the 2017 CIF-SS Division 1A final.
PHS fell behind early and never really challenged the Wolverines.
Eleven nights later, though, Pasadena got payback when they defeated Harvard-Westlake in a CIF Division 2 State third-round playoff game, and did so on the Wolverines home court.
PHS (23-6) enters Saturday night’s title bout with Chino Hills (20-11) on a 16-game winning streak.
Barely.
The Bulldogs got their biggest challenge since January 3, when Rancho Verde took PHS to the wire in last Friday’s CIF-SS Division 1 semifinal.
The Mustangs from Moreno Valley led for most of (last) Friday’s game, but the experienced PHS roster came up big, and especially late in the contest.
Darius Brown II lost a Rancho Verde defender with some nifty footwork and then hit a jump shot with 34 seconds to play.
Rancho Verde had a chance late to tie or win the game, but Omari Moore and Darius Mason made defensive stops and the Bulldogs are back in the finals.
They will host a Chino Hills team that is on a 5-game win streak.
The Huskies tied with Damien for second place in the Baseline League.
They were both 8-4 and finished four games back of Etiwanda (10-0).
Since LaMelo Ball was withdrawn from the school and program, Chino Hills is led by an incredible talent named Onyeka Okongwu.
“Big O” as he’s called, is a highly respected 6-foot-9 forward, and someone PHS coach Tony Brooks recently called ‘one of the five best power forwards in the country.’
Each of Pasadena’s star players mentioned Okongwu being a huge key to leaving APU Saturday night as CIF champions.
Okongwu changes the game on both ends of the floor and is someone to be reckoned with.
While Chino Hills does not post their team stats online, PHS coach Tony Brooks said the Bulldogs defense will also have to account for Andre Ball, Will Pluma, Ofure Ujadughele and Phaquon Davis for the Huskies.
In terms of Pasadena and what they bring to the big dance, there are no secrets.
First, it’s the area’s star player in senior Bryce Hamilton.
The 6-foot-5 guard-forward scores 26 points and has nearly 12 rebounds per game.
Last Friday, Rancho Verde doubled and sometimes triple-teamed Hamilton, and it resulted in an 11-point effort from PHS’ leading scorer.
But what the Mustangs didn’t count on was Hamilton had a team-best 6 assists, including several late that turned out to be the difference.
Darius Brown II is playing his best basketball and gives Brooks and the program 16 points, 10 assists and 5 steals per game.
As we always mention because of its relevance, PHS is 16-0 since DBII returned full time from an ankle injury, and last week’s nail-biter was the first time during that stretch that someone stayed within single digits of the Bulldogs.
Tavian Percy is enjoying the wild ride since coming west and joining the program from Miami.
The 6-foot-6 senior contributes 12 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists a night.
Darius Mason has been huge and is averaging 11 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and a pair of steals and blocked shots per game.
Omari Moore isn’t appreciated as much as we think he should be.
Since transferring back from St. Francis High School, Moore contributes 9 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists.
While looking back to last year’s final game setback, this Bulldogs team is much stronger thanks to the additions of Percy and Moore, and not to mention the return of all their key players of a year ago.
In PHS’ two postseason losses last year (Harvard-Westlake in CIF Division 1 title game and Esperanza in CIF State Division 2 Regional Final) the Bulldogs fell behind big and did so early.
An obvious early key to look for is whether PHS can avoid a slow start and especially not falling behind too much and too soon.
The Bulldogs seem to close out games much stronger than they start them, so a solid first-half showing could lead to a big night for PHS and their fans.
Other than becoming a CIF champion with a victory, there is another upside to winning on Saturday night.
Last season, while finishing second, it forced the Bullogs to play all four of their state playoff games on the road.
It would make sense if they were to become the Division 1 champs, PHS would likely have a much favorable state playoff schedule, at least in terms of location.
This team has worked from the day after last year’s setback to Harvard-Westlake and they couldn’t be more prepared or focused.
Tip off is set for 8:30.
Quotable:
Pasadena coach Tony Brooks: “This is the time of year where execution is key. We can’t worry about what they’re doing, but we have prepared for their tendencies and know what they like to do. They’ve had some injuries, but have healed and are playing a high brand of basketball. We have to try and make things difficult for them. They play with a lot of confidence and they have a lot of talent. The ‘x-factor’ is who doesn’t let the game get too big for them and which team executes the best.”
By The Numbers:
Season Wins:
Pasadena: 23
Chino Hills: 20
Season Losses:
Pasadena: 6
Chino Hills: 11
League Finishes:
Pasadena: (13-1, Pacific League Champs)
Chino Hills: (8-4, Second Place in Baseline League)
MaxPrep State Rankings:
Chino Hills: 15
Pasadena: 18
CIF-SS Division 1 Final Poll:
Pasadena: 4
Chino Hills: 5
Points scored per game:
Chino Hills: 74
Pasadena: 72
Points allowed per game:
Chino Hills: 66
Pasadena: 54
Current Win Streak:
Pasadena: 16
Chino Hills: 5
Common Opponents:
Nov. 29: Chino Hills 55, Rancho Verde 33
Feb. 23: Pasadena 48, Rancho Verde 46
Jan. 9: Chino Hills 85, Damien 72
Feb. 20: Pasadena 88, Damien 75
Feb 20: Chino Hills 87, Corona Centennial 74
Dec.26: Pasadena 73, Corona Centennial 70
Dec. 23: Rancho Christian 73, Pasadena 50
Dec. 1: Rancho Christian 81, Chino Hills 60
Playoff Scores:
Feb 14: Chino Hills 73, Inglewood 58
Feb 14: Bye
Feb 16: Chino Hills 90, Dominguez (Compton) 78
Feb 16: Pasadena 77, Loyola 47
Feb 20: Chino Hills 87, Corona Centennial 74
Feb 20: Pasadena 88, Damien 75
Feb 23: Chino Hills 89, Long Beach Poly 78
Feb 23: Pasadena 48, Rancho Verde 46
