LA VERNE – A Trinity League-ending loss at JSerra High eliminated the Santa Margarita High boys’ basketball team from any real hope of a fourth consecutive appearance in the CIF Southern Section Open Division playoff bracket.
But, a little more than two weeks later, the Eagles find themselves just one victory away from a slot in the Feb. 23 Southern Section Division I championship game at Cal Baptist University in Riverside.
Coach Jeff Reinert’s team advanced to a Saturday night division semifinal at Harvard-Westlake with its 83-64 victory over host Damien Thursday night.
The all-senior, major college-bound frontcourt of Jake Kyman (30 points/UCLA), Max Agbonkpolo (24/USC) and Shengzhe Li (15/BYU) combined for 69 points as the Eagles improved to 21-10.
Kyman’s virtuoso display of off-the-screen-and-catch jump shooting (eight of 11 from the field, including five 3s, and 23 points) had his team in front at intermission, 41-31.
And then it was Agbonkpolo’s (10 points, including two 3s) and Li’s (two layups and two free throws) in the third quarter as the Eagles pushed their advantage to 14 points going into the final eight minutes.
The Spartans (25-6), got to within 61-53 after a back-cut and lay-in by junior Austin Cook (15 points) with 5:54 remaining.
But Kyman (PICTURED) answered with a post-up and layup from right side and, after missed shots by Cook and Ifeanyi Okeke (a team-high 18 points) sandwiched around a Li turnover, Agbonkpolo dropped in his fourth 3 by way of a pass from Kendall McHugh and the advantage was back to 13 points a minute later.
The lead was never less than 11 points the rest of the way.
Sophomore Malik Thomas scored 28 and 30 points in Damien’s playoff wins over Maranatha and Los Altos but, while often being checked by Kyman, was held to 11 points while missing 10 of 13 shots from the floor.
Leave a Reply