ANAHEIM — For one half of their CIF Southern California Regional boys basketball opener, the rusty Esperanza Aztecs looked like a one-man team perhaps not capable of going all the way against the top teams in Division II.
And then something uplifting happened Wednesday night in Esperanza’s home gym. Coach Mark Hill opted to give 6-foot-8 star senior Kezie Okpala a little rest, the Aztecs suddenly started making the 3-point shots that wouldn’t fall in the first half and a nine-point lead turned into a 19-point runaway going into the fourth quarter.
In the end, Okpala finished with 34 points, 14 rebounds and six blocks while guards Jared Obermeier and Julian Almazan combined for 23 points in a 66-47 victory over 15th-seeded Dorsey of Los Angeles that justified the Aztecs’ No. 2 seed.
Considering the Aztecs hadn’t played a game since Feb. 21, a loss to Oak Park in the CIF-SS Open Division consolation bracket, Hill was satisfied with their play.
“We were rusty at times, especially at the start, but Kezie kept us ahead and then things opened up in the third quarter,” Hill said. “We played pretty well in spurts.”
Esperanza improved to 26-3 and will remain home Saturday night for a game against 10th-seeded Bakserfield (22-10), which beat seventh-seeded Maranatha on Wednesday.
“We’re going to have to play better (to have a chance to win a regional championship), but we can play better. I think once we started to settle down, we played like we can,” Hill said.
Okpala was practically a one-man show in the first half, scoring 20 of the Aztecs’ 27 points while Dorsey looked just as rusty and scored just 16 points. Okpala, who averages 30.4 points a game, made four long 3-pointers in the first two quarters and added 10 rebounds in a dominant performance.
But he was as happy as anyone to see the Aztecs’ shooting touch reappear when he went to the bench in the third quarter.
“I was super excited to play tonight and got gassed right away,” Okpala said, “but I had to keep going. When I came out, I was really excited to see everyone start to make their shots. It was great to see.
“I really wanted to win tonight. I’m not ready for the season to end.”
Obermeier, a 6-foot senior, scored 10 of his 13 points in the third quarter. He made two 3-pointers during the Aztecs’ decisive 16-3 spurt that made it 50-28 late in the third quarter.
Almazan, a 5-10 junior who scored 10 points, also gave the Aztecs a lift during the surge. He made two 3-pointers.
“Jared plays really hard for us,” Hill said. “He played well in that third quarter. They all started playing better and the shots started falling. It took awhile but primarily what happened is we shook off the rust.”
Okpala took over again the fourth quarter, making sure Dorsey (16-18) would not mount a comeback. He scored 11 points, four coming on crowd-pleasing dunks, and had a couple blocked shots.
“We definitely have to improve from here,” Okpala said. “But we can. Making shots will help.”
