TUSTIN – Tustin’s boys basketball team has been pointing for a return trip to the semifinal round of the CIF-SS playoffs for a while.
Friday night, the No. 3 Tillers punched their ticket with a 64-60 victory over Long Beach Millikan in the quarterfinal round of the 1AA playoffs in front of a near-capacity crowd in the Tustin High gym.
It was the 20th consecutive victory for Tustin (27-2) , which will meet No. 2 seed Village Christian of Sun Valley on Tuesday night at Village Christian.
“We’re fired up to be going back to the semifinals,” Tustin coach Ringo Bossenmeyer said after his team survived a late charge by Millikan (20-9).
Bossenmeyer knows what it’s like to take his team to the semis. The Tillers won the CIF 3AAA title in 2013 and last year lost to Calabasas in the 2A semis.
Tustin, led by the 23-point performance of George Wilson, wasn’t about to be denied another trip. Myles Garvin had 13 points and 10 rebounds and Josh DeBest (three, 3-pointers) and T.J. Shorts had 12 points each for the Tillers.
The 5-foot-8 Shorts also had nine rebounds.
“It’s real big to get back to the semifinals again because we feel we have unfinished business back there,” said Wilson, who also had eight rebounds. “We would get up on them by 9 and 11 and they would come back, but at the end of the day, we got the job done.”
Tustin held a 46-40 lead after three quarters but Millikan battled back, cutting the lead to 63-60 with 50 seconds left on a 3-pointer by by Bryndon Wilson.
Following a Tustin turnover, Millikan was unable to convert a 3-point attempt and DeBest rebounded. DeBest was fouled and made one of two free throws to make it 64-60 with 11.6 seconds remaining.
A desperation 3-pointer then went off the rim and Garvin rebounded for Tustin to seal the win.
“Going into the game, I knew if we got down by eight or 10 points, the game would be so fast you would get back in it,” Bossenmeyer said. “And I also knew if we were up, they could close the gap in a hurry, which is what happened.
“They turn other team’s turnovers into points better than any team we’ve played this year.”
Contact the writer: tburt@ocregister.com