YORBA LINDA – Esperanza boys basketball coach Mark Hill knew from the beginning that he had a talented team.
After some early bumps in the road, the Aztecs found their form, and their hot streak continued against No. 5 Yorba Linda on Tuesday night.
Kezie Okpala had a game-high 22 points, and No. 9 Esperanza defeated the Mustangs, 69-61, in a nonleague game at Yorba Linda High.
Brendan Harrick had 15 points and five rebounds for the Aztecs. Jared Obermeier added 12 points, and Garrett Geiger chipped in 10.
Esperanza (15-7) has won 10 of its last 11 games, a stretch that includes a run to the championship game of the Orange Holiday Classic in late December.
“We’ve improved tremendously since Christmas defensively, and that has been a big key for us,” Hill said. “We put a lot of pressure on them, and it showed in the first half.”
Esperanza held Yorba Linda to 8 of 26 shooting (30.7 percent) in the first half. That resulted in the Aztecs taking a 34-19 lead into halftime.
They stretched their lead to 18 points, but the Mustangs (16-6) rallied. Isaac Douglass scored nine of his team-high 21 points in the third quarter, helping Yorba Linda get within 10.
Despite putting up 29 points in the final frame, the Mustangs got no closer than eight points.
Shaun Maeder hit four 3-pointers in the period, but his hot shooting was offset by Okpala’s 13 fourth-quarter points.
Okpala wasn’t going to let a raucous Yorba Linda crowd distract him.
“They were just jawing at me the whole night,” he said. “I didn’t let it get to me. I just stayed cool and played my game.”
The Aztecs’ lineup has benefitted from the addition of Harrick, a transfer from Servite. He has become the team’s second-leading scorer. The 6-foot-5 forward stretches the floor with his shooting and has added some much-needed rebounding.
