HUNTINGTON BEACH – Before Friday night’s CIF-SS Division 2AA semifinal, Edison boys basketball coach Rich Boyce reminded his team’s players of their identity.
His Chargers needed to be a defense-first team, and in a matchup with an electric Kaiser of Fontana offense, Friday had to be the best defensive showing of the year.
After squandering a 17-point lead in the third quarter, Edison earned its payoff in heeding their coach’s words of wisdom: “Defense always travels.”
Edison allowed just seven points in the fourth quarter, and the Chargers outlasted Kaiser, 56-53, to reach their second consecutive CIF-SS title game.
The Chargers (24-7) will face Ayala of Chino Hills. The date, time, and location of all boys basketball championship games will be announced by the CIF-SS office on Monday at noon.
The Bulldogs (28-3) beat Loyola of Los Angeles, 71-65, in the other semifinal.
Randall Walker had a game-high 20 points for Edison. Nate Matthews had 13 points, six rebounds, and four steals, and Tommy Barlow added 12 points and 10 rebounds.
“I told the kids that the game was a microcosm of our season,” Boyce said. “We’re playing well, then we hit a speed bump. We never let the speed bumps keep us down.
“(Kaiser) never took the lead. They caught us a couple of times, but we just made plays.”
Kaiser forward Armani Dodson (19 points) put the Cats (26-5) in control early. He had 11 points in the first quarter. His low-post play helped put Kaiser in the bonus after drawing the third foul on Garrett White with 1:57 left in the period. Kaiser led, 16-11, after the first.
But when Dodson was forced to leave due to two offensive fouls, the Chargers made their run. Jonah Tuato tied it, 17-17, at the 4:35 mark of the second. By halftime, Edison led, 31-24. The Chargers increased their lead to 44-27 in the third quarter on a corner 3-pointer by Matthews with 4:52 left in the third.
“I think Nate (Matthews) does it all,” Walker said of the team’s tempo-setting guard. “He always brings energy to the team, and he always makes big plays.”
Kaiser rallied with pace and pressure. Dylan Harris had a pair of steals for layups. Dodson led with eight points in the frame, and Abe Salman scored six as the Cats cut the Edison lead to 48-46 heading to the fourth.
“Did we want our MVP (Dodson) to get into foul trouble?” Kaiser coach Jarel Perry said. “No, but the kids played hard. They played through it.”
Walker scored six of the Chargers’ eight points in the fourth, including two free throws with 5.4 seconds left to force Kaiser into a game-tying 3-point attempt, which Harris missed.
