Boys Basketball: Pasadena in CIF State Southern Regional Championship Saturday Night at Esperanza; Bulldogs Facing High-Scoring Kezie Okpala

From Top Clockwise: Bryce Hamilton, Darius Brown II, Kezie Okpala and Brendan Harrick. By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor Pasadena is in uncharted waters. The Bulldogs are making their first appearance in the CIF State Division 2 Southern Regional Finals Saturday night at 6 at Esperanza. They also face the most prolific offensive force in Esperanza’s […]

From Top Clockwise: Bryce Hamilton, Darius Brown II, Kezie Okpala and Brendan Harrick.

By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor

Pasadena is in uncharted waters.

The Bulldogs are making their first appearance in the CIF State Division 2 Southern Regional Finals Saturday night at 6 at Esperanza.

They also face the most prolific offensive force in Esperanza’s Kezie Okpala.

The 6-foot-8, 185-pound senior averages 31 points per game and 11 rebounds.

Okpala has 19 games in which he’s scored at least 30 points, and five more with 40 or more points.

His season high is 46, and that came in last round’s victory over Crossroads.

Esperanza enters Saturday’s home contest with an incredible 28-3 record, and are ranked No. 17 in the state by MaxPreps.

Brendan Harrick scores 13 per night, but after Okpala and Harrick, the next highest scorer drops all the way down to Jared Obermeier’s 6.5 per night.

The Aztecs entered the CIF-SS Open Division playoffs 25-1, but dropped consecutive games to Santa Margarita and Oak Park.

They do, however, have state victories over Dorsey, Bakersfield and Crossroads.

For their part. Pasadena (27-6) has been nothing short of sensational.

The Bulldogs had to win three consecutive road victories just to get to this point.

Bryce Hamilton, Darius Brown II and Darius Mason have led the way, but Jesse Watkins and Laz Morris have chipped in lately, which has made the Bulldogs more versatile.

In the three state wins, Pasadena saw a different leading scorer step up.

Brown II had 30 at Heritage Christian, Mason went for 21 at Mission Hills and Hamilton poured in 31 points at Harvard-Westlake on Wednesday.

Hamilton is averaging 24 points a night, and 12 rebounds.

DBII scores 18 per, 5 rebounds and 7 assists, and Mason adds 12 points per night and 6 rebounds.

Pasadena has won 22 of their last 23 games, including a gut-check at Harvard-Westlake on Tuesday night, 67-56.

It was a satisfying form of redemption for the Bulldogs some 11 days after falling to Harvard-Westlake in the CIF-SS Division 1-A title game.

Quotable:

PHS coach Tony Brooks: “Looking at tomorrow’s game, the most exciting thing that I can tell you about our team is that this is our 34th game, and the kids are just as excited about this game as they were in their first game. The team is focused and ready for the challenge of going on the road yet again. They know that their best is required and there’s no reason to believe that they will bring anything less than that to tomorrow’s game.”

PHS point guard Darius Brown II: “If we keep him (Okpala) under his average, I believe that will be successful, and we will get the win.”

 

 

Related Post

top