The Foothill boys basketball team fell short in its quest for a Century League title, as did Tustin in the Empire League. The Beckman boys team experienced some growing pains, but Patriots coach Brady Richards believes his team is peaking at the right time. Both Foothill and Tustin will have the opportunity to redeem themselves in the CIF-SS boys basketball playoffs beginning this week; and Beckman, well, they have an opportunity to make a big splash with an upset.
Who: Beckman (13-13, 5-5 Pacific Coast League) vs. Hart of Newhall (24-2, 9-0 Foothill League)
What: CIF-SS Division 2A first round playoff game
When: Friday, 7 p.m.
Where: Hart High
The Beckman boys basketball team has its work cut out for it in its first round match-up against third-seeded Hart of Newhall.
The Patriots’ opponent is 24-2 on the season and closed out a Foothill League championship with a 9-0 mark in league play.
Richards believes that his team needs to rebound the ball well to have success and Charles Wright will be a huge factor on the glass.
“They’re a very skilled team, have really good guard play and they’re talented all the way around,” he said. “We’re going to have to rebound the ball.”
Luckily for Beckman, it has the county’s top rebounder on its roster in senior forward Charles Wright.
Wright is averaging 13.1 rebounds per game this season and will need to continue that for Beckman to pull off the upset.
“When (Charles) is out there snatching up rebounds, it limits the other teams’ offensive touches and points,” Richards said. “It allows us to get out and start our (fast) break and get transition points.”
According to Richards, Hart likes to run just as much as Beckman, but the Patriots aren’t about to slow down.
“They’re a team that likes to get out and run, but I don’t think we’re going to change our way of play just because they can thrive in it as well,” he said. “We’re going to stick with what we’ve been doing all year.”
Beckman can score with just about anyone when needed. The Patriots have scored over 70 points five times this season with those points coming in a balanced attack.
Only one Beckman player averages double-digits on the season – that being Wright at 13.1 points per game.
Sophomores Shane Talesnik, Michael Yee, Justin Reinhardt and Kai Weissberger average between 8.5 and 9.7 points per game this season.
Defensively, Beckman will need to contain multiple Hart players including UTEP-commit Lewis Stallworth. Junior point guard Myles Franklin and 6-foot-9 junior forward D.B. Gibbs are two other players the Patriots need to worry about.
No matter what happens Friday, Richards thinks this season has been a huge success for Beckman.
“Our goal was to continue to get better, which I definitely think we have,” he said. “A lot of our sophomores have really stepped up.”
Who: Tustin (19-7, 9-3 Empire League) vs. Chino Don Lugo (13-11, 7-5 Mt. Baldy League)
What: CIF-SS Division 2A first round playoff game
When: Friday, 7 p.m.
Where: Tustin High
The Tustin high school boys basketball teams’ strengths this season have been in the most important part of the game – defense, rebounding and offensive execution.
Tillers’ coach Ringo Bossenmeyer doesn’t expect that to change much come Friday’s playoff game against Don Lugo.
“We definitely need to make them guard and we cannot take quick, contested jump shots,” Bossenmeyer said. “We will definitely look to run when we see the opportunity, but we need to be disciplined enough to set up our offense and make them guard for an extended period.”
The decisions to run and when to set up the offense fall on the shoulders of one T.J. Shorts.
The Tustin point guard has been making good decisions all season and those decisions become even more important in the one-and-done atmosphere of the playoffs.
Senior guard Rob Nelsen led the Tillers in scoring this season averaging 17.3 points per game and junior guard George Wilson will be tasked with guarding the opponents’ best player as he has all season.
Bossenmeyer said that he has seen Don Lugo and has some definite concerns, both offensively and defensively, heading into the game.
“They’re athletic and they like to get out and run,” he said. “They’re fairly explosive offensively and have multiple guys that can get hot from behind the arc. Those are the biggest concerns going in.”
Bossenmeyer believes that even though Tustin is entering the playoffs after a tough loss to Yorba Linda, not much needs to change for them to be successful in the postseason.
“More than anything, we’re just trying to make sure we get better,” he said. “We’re trying to tighten up our offensive execution and rebounding which have been major components all season long.”
Who: Foothill (20-6, 9-3 Century League) vs. Newport Harbor (14-13, 5-5 Sunset League)
What: CIF-SS Division 2AA first round playoff game
When: Friday, 7 p.m.
Where: Foothill High
After the Foothill high school boys basketball team lost to Canyon in a showdown for the Century League championship on Feb. 11, Knights’ coach Rusty Van Cleave said the he’d like to get another chance to play the Comanches.
If Foothill and Canyon are to meet again, it will be in the CIF-SS Division 2AA championship game as the Comanches earned the division’s top-seed and the Knights are the No. 2-seed.
But first, Foothill’s focus is on Sunset League representative Newport Harbor.
Van Cleave said that there is a quirky cause for concern heading into Friday’s game.
“They have a point guard who plays really hard; he’s a little unorthodox, he dribbles a lot and has some jab-steps and spin moves,” he said. “He takes some quirky shots and he’s a tough guy to match-up with.”
Foothill will have some tough match-ups of its own for Newport Harbor, too.
The Knights will look to work inside-out just as it has for the season as a whole, and Van Cleave believes Foothill has a big advantage in the paint with Eric Patton, Jacob Dean and Zach Harvey up front.
“We’re bigger (than Newport Harbor),” Van Cleave said. “So we ought to have an advantage inside.”
Newport’s leading scorer is guard Nic Sargeant who is averaging 17 points per game this season.
According to Van Cleave, Foothill will likely deploy a host of players to defend him, including starters Riley O’Hern and Andrew Ammann.
Van Cleave said after the emotional loss to Canyon, the Knights bounced back with a strong showing in a win over Esperanza and there were a lot of positive things to take away from that game to use in the playoffs.
“We played loose, and we played free, but we maintained a high-level of offensive execution,” Van Cleave said.
Contact the writer: dugland@ocregister.com
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