ANAHEIM – Travis Kettering found himself alone on a fast-break late in a CIF Southern California Regional Division II boys basketball final Saturday against Pasadena.
It would have been easy for Esperanza’s senior point guard to score on a layup.
What happened next tells the story of the Aztecs’ senior class.
Kettering threw the ball off the backboard. Fellow senior Kezie Okpala raced in, grabbed the ball out of the air and dunked it. The crowd and Aztecs bench erupted.
Esperanza coach Mark Hill said after the game he knew Kettering was going to attempt the unusual pass.
“We have really good chemistry,” Kettering said. “The first time we did that was in the summer. I saw the opportunity again. I saw him trailing (the play) … I know he always calls for it all of the time and I knew he would get it.”
Kettering and Okpala have more than just chemistry. They have been playing together since they were little kids.
“I’ve been playing with him since I was four years old,” Kettering said. “We’ve been on the same club team every year of high school.”
Kettering and Okpala aren’t the only ones on the team with a bond that pre-dates their time at Esperanza.
Kettering, Okpala, Jared Obermeier, Brandon Alpern, Garrett Poling, Garrett Geiger and Brendan Harrick all played together as third-graders in the local NJB.
The Aztecs (29-3) will attempt to cap that long basketball journey with a CIF State title Saturday when they face Moreau Catholic of Hayward in the Division II final at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
“It is amazing that we’ve all been together,” Kettering said. “We’re like a big family.”
The players stayed together through the club circuit with the Yorba Linda PUMAS, and several others joined them along the way.
“It was fun, that was my first team that I was part of,” Okpala said. “It is really exciting to be playing with this group of guys for so long.”
The group eventually made its way to Esperanza, and as sophomores, Okpala, Geiger, Kettering, Alpern, Obermeier and Poling all reached the varsity level.
It came at the right time for their development.
“I only had two seniors that played on that team,” Hill said. “So they (sophomores) played a lot. Kezie started, Geiger started, Travis started … They just weren’t on the varsity as sophomores, they started and played, so they got valuable experience and that’s the difference.”
The Aztecs advanced to the CIF-SS semifinals that year, but they lost in the second round last year.
“That was pretty upsetting for us,” Kettering said. “We knew that was a year where we could have gone far. We wanted to win something this year.”
With a full team returning (11 players), the seniors set their sights on going out in style.
They had the perfect starting block with the Stanford-bound Okpala. He is able to do anything he wants on the court. He is averaging 30.7 points, 10.6 rebounds, two steals and two blocks a game.
He failed to score 20 or more points in a game only three times this season.
“Freshman year, I was really small, maybe like 5’10,” Okpala said. “I was used to being taller than everybody. I started on JV and I played all right. I wasn’t too good.”
Okpala said his growth spurt was gradual over the years, leading to his 6-foot-8 stature today. Along with that, his game improved. He went from 8.1 points a game as a sophomore to 21.1 ppg last year and 30.7 this year.
“When I was coming into this year, I didn’t think I would be averaging 30 points,” Okpala said. “The first tournament (of the season) in Chicago, I noticed that I was scoring with such ease, and I really thought no one could stay in front of me and I still don’t think anyone can stay in front of me and guard me 1-on-1.”
The Aztecs lost one game in Chicago and didn’t lose again until the CIF-SS Open Division playoffs.
After a two-week break, the Aztecs opened the CIF SoCal Regionals with a 66-47 victory over Dorsey and were back on the path toward a state title, setting a school record in victories along the way.
“It has meant a lot,” Hill said “Obviously, getting toward the end of my coaching career, I don’t have too many more years coaching. So this year has meant a great deal. School record in wins, and it has been a special group of kids for me having had them (the seniors on varsity) for three years.
“We had a disappointing finish last year in CIF, and of course disappointing to be put in the Open this year, especially when you had a team that you felt was capable of winning 1AA or 1A this year. But for us to win the Southern California Regionals and go to the state tournament means everything.”
A victory Saturday would afford the seniors a perfect final chapter as they prepare for their basketball life without each other.
“It would be a great feeling,” Okpala said. “This is what we’ve practiced and played all those years for.”
