His name fits his stature, but not the way he plays.
Tustin’s 5-foot-9 point guard T.J. Shorts had another big game. He scored 14 points in the fourth quarter Friday as the Tillers beat Valencia, 43-37, in an Empire League game at Valencia High.
The teams went into the game tied for first place in the Empire League. The outcome kept Tustin undefeated in league, at 4-0, and gave Valencia its first league loss.
Tustin, ranked No. 6 in Orange County, is 18-2 overall. The Tillers have won 11 in a row. The Tigers (17-3, 3-1) had won four in a row going into Friday.
Shorts finished with game-high 20 points and 10 rebounds. Myles Garvin added nine points and eight rebounds for Tustin.
Valencia’s biggest deficit was nine points, and it was down by six midway through the fourth quarter. A 3-pointer by the Tigers’ Eric Yang trimmed the Tustin lead to 35-34 with 1:32 remaining.
Shorts made a jump shot just behind the free-throw line to push the Tillers’ lead to three. At the other end, Shorts grabbed a rebound, took the ball to the front court, stopped at the top of the key, then accelerated again for a driving layup to make it 39-34 with 29 seconds left.
Yang, who led the Tigers with 11 points, dropped in a 3-pointer, this one from 24 feet, to make it 39-37 with 21 seconds to go. Shorts made two free throws with 19 seconds left to increase the Tillers’ lead to 41-37, and he secured the victory with two more foul shots with 10 seconds remaining.
Shorts figured the fourth quarter was his time to take charge.
“I saw our team needed some buckets, so I sort of took over the game and gave our team what we needed,” Shorts said.
Valencia is taller than Tustin, so Shorts knew he had to contribute in the rebounding department, too.
“So I took it upon myself personally that I had to get on the boards as a small guy,” he said. “And that’s what I did.”
Shorts, averaging 17 points a game, impressed Tustin coach Ringo Bossenmeyer yet again.
“He finds ways to keep us in the game when we’re struggling,” Bossenmeyer said, “and he finds ways to win games down the stretch. He’s a special guy.”
Bossenmeyer also thinks Shorts is a guy that can play college basketball at some level, somewhere.
“There are college coaches afraid of him because of his size,” Bossenmeyer said. “And they’re missing out.”
Shorts scored 17 points in a rivalry-game win over Foothill two weeks ago. He has been held to single-digit scoring only once.
Tustin’s most-recent loss was to San Clemente on Dec. 19 in the Irvine World News/Gary Raya Tournament. The Tillers’ other loss was to Mater Dei in a the Beach Bash tournament at Corona del Mar.
Also in the Empire League:
Cypress 55, Kennedy 47: Trent Rothman’s 14 points led the visiting Centurions (14-10, 2-2), who are in third place in league, to a victory at Kennedy. Brad Belshe added 10 points, and Noah Masschaupt contributed nine.
For the Fighting Irish (4-14, 0-4), Marcus Procter scored 19 points and Domenic De Fiore finished with 17 points and 17 rebounds.
Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com
