TEMECULA – Aliso Niguel had no answer for Evan Mobley on Tuesday night, and the Wolverines wound up losing to Rancho Christian, 81-69, in the CIF-SS Division 2A boys basketball quarterfinals.
Mobley, a freshman, showed no nerves while scoring 20 points, and helped Rancho Christian advance to the semifinals for the third consecutive year. The Eagles will play at top-seeded Capistrano Valley on Friday.
“We came out ready to go tonight,” Aliso Niguel coach Keith Barnett said. “We shot and defended well tonight, but we had some crucial turnovers.
“Rancho Christian is not the kind of team that you can make those mistakes against and expect to come out with a victory.”
During a close first quarter, Aliso Niguel took an 18-15 lead as Dylan Dickerson connected on his fourth 3-pointer of the quarter with 15 seconds remaining.
KJ Redfield answered back for Rancho Christian, making a 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded to even the contest at 18-18.
Redfield went on to hit a pair of threes in the second quarter to give the Eagles a seven-point lead at the break.
A pair of runs in the second half secured the victory for Rancho Christian.
The first of those came late in the third quarter when the Eagles went on a 9-2 run that was capped by a three from Owen Chidester.
The second came midway through the fourth quarter when Rancho Christian outscored Aliso Niguel, 10-1, over a two-minute span.
The Eagles converted on 12 of 17 free throws in the final quarter.
“I think that we are peaking at the right time,” Rancho Christian coach Ray Barefield said.
Dickerson and Lucas Parks scored 21 points each for the Wolverines.
