SANTA ANA – The Etiwanda High boys’ basketball teams has lost just twice in the most recent 25 games it has played this season.
Tuesday night the Eagles will get a third pop at knocking off the squad that handed it those two losses.
Etiwanda (30-3) trailed by nine points midway thru the first quarter, used its stout half-court defense and balanced offense to knock off the host Monarchs, 65-61, in a Saturday night CIF State Open Regional semifinal pitting the division’s respective 3 and 2 seeds.
The Eagles next take on top-ranked and two-time defending Sierra Canyon Trailblazers (who knocked off Harvard-Westlake in the other regional semifinal Saturday night at Pepperdine, 75-65) with a trip to Sacramento on the line at Cal State Northridge.
Sierra Canyon (29-4) knocked off Etiwanda (57-53), in a Classic at Damien Platinum Division semifinal on Dec. 28, and 73-62 in a Feb. 21 CIF Southern Section Open pool-play game at Calabasas High.
“They’re so good,” Kleckner said of Sierra Canyon after his team’s win over the Monarchs. “We know we’re going to have to be near-perfect (Tuesday night) in order to beat them.”
Seniors – led by guards’ Camren Pierce and Brantly Stevenson, with 19 and 17, respectively – scored all but three of Etiwanda’s points Saturday night.
But those three were critical.
With his team up, 55-53, after a timeout with 1:48 to go, junior Jahmai Mashack – in foul trouble most of the night – took a pass from Jaylen Clark and dropped in a 20-footer from the left wing 10 seconds into the possession.
“That was huge – the turning point,” Clark said.
Harry Hornery missed on a deep 3 attempt at the other end, and then the Monarchs began fouling to send the Eagles to the free-throw line in an attempt to extend the game.
They hit seven of 12 free throws in that stretch and were up by eight points with 23 seconds to go when Mater Dei Coach Gary McKnight cleared the floor of his starters. The Monarchs scored the final four points on near-concession buckets.
Pierce (pictured), who is bound for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, scored 11 of his points in the fourth quarter and, with Darryl Jackson (nine points), combined to “contain” Kentucky-bound guard Devin Askew as much as is possible on this level.
Askew scored a game-high 23 points but was limited to three free throws (in four attempts) and missed all five of his shots from the floor in the fourth quarter. He finished with seven assists and – after making his first four shots – finished six of 16 from the field.
The Eagles hit 10 3-pointers (the last of those by Mashack), nine of those against the zone defense Mater Dei came out in before going man-to-man with a little more than four minutes to go.
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