BREA Brea Olinda boys basketball coach Darryl Hilliard believes the difficult Century League prepared his team to play against just about any style.
On Wednesday night, the host Wildcats encountered the full-court press of one-loss Sweetwater of National City and made their coaches’ theory look spot-on.
Brea Olinda handled the pressure well enough, and took advantage of their height advantage to defeat Sweetwater, 70-60, in a CIF State Division 3 Southern California Regional first round game.
Senior Michael Turner scored 19 points and sophomore Zac Jervis added 16 to lead Brea Olinda, the third-place team from the Century League.
“We handled teams like that before, so we were kind of used to it,” Turner said of the pressure from Sweetwater (28-2).
Brea Olinda (24-10), the Division 3AA runner-up, will be the home team in the second round Saturday when it takes on Oak Park, a 73-59 winner against Roosevelt of Fresno.
Brea Olinda was effective enough against Sweetwater’s pressure that Coach Jesse Aguirre called off the press in the final three minutes of the third quarter. Brea Olinda led, 58-37, going into the fourth and withstood a late charge in the final period.
“First time I pulled a press all year,” Aguirre said. “They’re a good team, man. They’re in a tough league and it paid off.”
The Wildcats used their height advantage to pass over Sweetwater’s pressure and attack the post. Turner made 8 of 12 field goals and also added 11 rebounds and three blocks.
He capped a fast-break in the Wildcats’ 10-2 spurt to open the game with a dunk.
Jervis had 12 rebounds while Collin Greenwood (9 points), Sam Choi (8) and Jonathan Wallace (7) nearly reached double-figures.
“We threw it over their heads and got layups,” Hilliard said. “That’s how you beat them. If you allow them to press you, you’re going to lose.”
Brea Olinda was disciplined enough to make 15 of 26 shots (57 percent) from the floor in the first half.
The Wildcats’ defense held Sweetwater to 10 field goals through three periods. Sweetwater point guard Spencer Mattox scored 15 of his 23 points in the fourth but didn’t make his first field goal until 40 seconds into the final frame.
Turner said Brea Olinda’s motivation is high after falling to Santa Margarita, 53-46, in a close section final Saturday at Honda Center. The score was tied, 46-46, with just over two minutes left.
“We felt like we did let one slip away Saturday,” Turner said. “So we have something to prove. … We want to show that we’re not done yet.”
