Boys Basketball: Five Pasadena Schools in Boys Basketball Playoff Quarterfinals Tuesday; La Salle, Poly, Maranatha, Pasadena, Blair All Take The Court Tonight

L-R: Bryce Hamilton (Pasadena High School), Darius Brown (Pasadena High School), Darius Henderson (La Salle High School), Jaice Gardner (La Salle High School), Jack Dakan (Blair High School), Sean Espinosa (Maranatha High School) By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor Five Pasadena-area schools play tonight (Tuesday) in the CIF-SS boys basketball playoff quarterfinals, with four having to […]

L-R: Bryce Hamilton (Pasadena High School), Darius Brown (Pasadena High School), Darius Henderson (La Salle High School), Jaice Gardner (La Salle High School), Jack Dakan (Blair High School), Sean Espinosa (Maranatha High School)

By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor

Five Pasadena-area schools play tonight (Tuesday) in the CIF-SS boys basketball playoff quarterfinals, with four having to make road trips.

Blair will host Jurupa Valley, but Maranatha, Poly, La Salle and Pasadena all have significant bus rides.

We’ll break down each of the five.

CIF-SS Division 1-A: Pasadena at Corona del Mar at 7

Pasadena (22-5), the Pacific League champs are heading to Newport Beach to take on Corona del Mar (22-7).

The Sea Kings ran their Pacific Coast League schedule, 9-1, and averaged 64 points per game.

The Bulldogs are certainly not lacking on the offensive end.

Bryce Hamilton leads the way with 23 points and 11 rebounds.

Darius Brown II does a little of everything to make Pasadena’s engine run smoothly.

Brown II is scoring 18 points, grabbing 5 rebounds and dishing out 7 assists per game.

“Defense is key,” Pasadena point guard Darius Brown II said. “A lot of defense is the key, especially in our transition. We also need to key in on rebounding.”

Darius Mason’s 11 points per game, and Jesse Watkins’ 6 points and 6 rebounds a night have been huge in Pasadena’s 17-game current win streak.

“Corona del Mar’s boys basketball has traditionally been excellent every year,” Pasadena coach Tony Brooks said. “This year is no exception. In order to win on their floor, we will have to be at the top of our game. The kids have practice well over the past few days and they are excited to compete at the highest level. At this point in the playoffs, we fully understand the need to execute the game plan and stick to what has been successful for us this far this season. Our goal is to be a practice on Wednesday!”

CIF-SS Division 1-AA:
Maranatha at Tahquitz (Hemet) at 7

Tahquitz (24-4) ran their Mountain Pass League unscathed at 10-0. The Titans have playoff victories over West Valley 69-45, in the first round and then a 78-64, second-round decision over Edison.

Jordan Williams leads the offense with 21 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists per game and Azmar Sabb contributes 13 points and 6 rebounds.

“I saw a little of them on tape,” Maranatha coach Tim Tucker said. “They have a really good scorer (Williams). They have some quality wins. We’ve been preparing and having work outs and getting the guys focused. Make sure they stay engaged. There will always be some runs and we just have to react well to them.”

Maranatha (16-9) is coming off a huge, what some would call an “upset” victory over St. John Bosco on Friday night in overtime.

The Minutemen offense is led by Chris Austin’s 18 points and 6 rebounds.

Sean Espinosa is averaging 13 points and 4 assists per game.

“I think the key to us winning is to play good team offense and good team defense,” Maranatha point guard Sean Espinosa said. “We have to focus on rebounding as well. If we can do those things well, we will have a good chance of winning.”

CIF-SS Division 2-A: La Salle at Oxnard at 7

La Salle (21-9) and their defense-first mentality will be put to the test against an Oxnard (25-3) team that is on a 15-game win streak.

As always, the Lancers will be led by a triple-headed monster and a killer defense that held Muir to just 33 points in an overtime victory Friday night.

Key to their playoff run is Darius Henderson’s 17 points, 12 rebounds and 2 assists per game, as well as Jaice Gardner (14 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists) and AJ Akobian (14 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists), who have been solid all season.

“To beat Oxnard, we need to use our size and have excellent defense to close our their shooters,” La Salle senior Jaice Gardner said. “Our offense will come. We never worry about that. We can all score, but we want to shut them down defensively, so we can get an early lead in the game.”

Along with their 15-game win steak, Oxnard went 8-0 in Pacific View League games in which they averaged 64 points per game.

“We must crowd their shooters and not give up uncontested shots,” La Salle coach Mike Lynch said. “And we have to win the rebound battle. They run their offense with precision and shoot from the perimeter. They are a smart offensive team.”

CIF-SS Division 4-A: Poly at Shalhevet at 7

Poly (19-4) had won two consecutive playoff games thanks to solid second-half efforts.

The Panthers know the deeper they go in the playoffs, the less chance there is for error and they want to get off to a quicker start tonight at Shalhevet (23-7)

The Jackrabbits are led consistently by seniors John Genske and Ryan Bowen, as well as junior point guard Jackson Hayes.

But that isn’t all Poly has to offer. Brendan Fong and Mateo Taylor have been incredibly valuable, especially lately.

“We need to focus on our defense and rebounding,” Poly point guard Jackson Hayes said. “We need to box out their bigs and not allow any second-chance buckets. It’s definitely important to start faster than we have. We can’t afford to go down by 10 at the start of the game. This team is very strong and they might not allow us to get back later in the game.”

The Firehawks won the Mulholland League with a 6-0 mark and have won 12 of their last 14 games.

Shalhevet averaged nearly 80 points per game in league play.

“We need to worry about ourselves and our game,” Poly senior guard Ryan Bowen said. We know what type of team we’re playing, and we know what we have to do. And what we have been doing from our past two games has been successful in both wins. A key mistake we need to eliminate is our silly mistakes on offense when it comes to passing and spacing. Moving the ball in transition and better on offense will play a huge role in tomorrow’s game.”

CIF-SS Division 4-AA: Jurupa Valley at Blair at 7

Jurupa Valley (17-10) will visit Blair (22-6) as the Vikings are the only of the five area teams to host a game Tuesday night.

The Jaguars defeated Workman in the first round, 52-42, and then got by Westminster, 63-51, to set up their match up against Blair.

Jurupa Valley isn’t too difficult to figure out. Their offense is led by Damian Givens’ 22 points and 7 rebounds per game.

The next closest scorer for the Falcons is Jayden Conaway’s 8 points each night.

The Vikings blew out Ontario, 81-55 in the first round, and then outlasted Flintridge Prep, 62-53 last Friday.

Blair will count on Dez Washington, Gabe Snow and Caleb Smith’s offense, as well as the timely buckets and assist from senior guard Jack Dakan.

Washington averages 21 points per game, Dakan 13, Snow 12, and Smith 11.

“We need to feed off our home crowd, play energized basketball, and win the loose ball and rebound battles,” Blair coach Alon Margalit said.

 

 

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