IRVINE – Shane Taleisnik’s modest birthday wish Friday was to simply sink a shot.
After struggling to find success in the first 31 minutes of a nonleague boys basketball contest against visiting San Juan Hills, the Beckman guard found the bottom of the basket at the most opportune moment.
Connecting on a wide-open 3-pointer with 23 seconds remaining in the game, Taleisnik’s shot helped the Patriots outlast the Stallions, 55-50.
“The whole game I’d been cutting and working my butt off to get open, and I hadn’t made a single shot,” said Taleisnik, who turned 17 on Friday. “It’s my birthday, so one of them was bound to go in.”
The long-range conversion, coupled with Justin Reinhardt’s two successful free throws with 4.1 seconds left, keyed the Patriots’ game-ending 11-0 run. The outburst erased San Juan Hills’ six-point lead.
Beckman coach Brady Richards, who preached playing a full 32 minutes of defense prior to tip-off, said he was thrilled with his team’s tenacious play in the fourth quarter.
“We kept digging in defensively,” Richards said. “Our zone really held tough. We kept (Vincent McFadden) off the glass. ”
Powered by an aggressive attack, the Patriots (4-2) held McFadden, the Stallions’ 6-foot-7 forward who has committed to Army, to five points in the second half.
McFadden finished with 13 points and nine rebounds. San Juan Hills (4-2) was led by Daniel Haimes, who knocked down four 3-pointers and scored 18 points.
The Patriots, who trailed by 11 points in the second quarter, went on a 10-3 spurt in the final three minutes of the first half to trim the deficit to 27-24. Beckman grabbed its first lead of the game at 37-35 on Michael Yee’s baseline layup with 3:59 remaining in the third quarter.
“Our overall tone changed,” Richards said. “The past two days, we really just preached defense and getting to those loose balls and doing all the dirty work.”
Reinhardt went 8 for 8 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter, registering a game-high 19 points.
