SANTA ANA – Rowland hit nine 3-pointers and was 11 for 13 from the free throw line in a 65-56 victory over Segerstrom in a CIF-SS Division 4AA quarterfinal on Tuesday at Segerstrom High.
Rowland (21-8) led nearly the entire game, and every time the Jaguars (14-14) made a run to get to within a basket or two, the Raiders answered with a run of their own.
“They got good enough shooters and if you give them enough open looks, they’re going to hit them,” Segerstrom coach Brandon Rogers said of the Raiders. “That was our fault for not executing.”
Rowland hit four 3-pointers in the first quarter and closed out the quarter on an 8-0 run to take an 18-10 lead into the second.
Luis Pacheco’s 3-pointer toward the end of the second got the Jaguars within a point, but Rowland ended the quarter on a 6-2 run to take a 30-25 lead at the half.
That was pretty much the scenario in the second half as well.
Abraham Negrete’s basket for the Jaguars cut the deficit to two, but Phillip Aguiniga came back with a 3-pointer to put the Raiders up, 37-32.
Luis Pacheco’s 3-pointer for Segerstrom made the score 37-35, but the Raiders closed out the third on an 11-5 run to take a 49-40 lead into the fourth.
The Raiders upped the lead to 18 with 3:56 left when Segerstrom went on 10-0 run to make it an eight-point game with 1:43 left.
Michael Mandujano missed a 12-foot jumper that would have pulled the Jaguars within six with just under a minute left, and the Raiders ran down the clock from there.
