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Frank Burlison | High School Basketball | College Basketball

“County rematch” set for Saturday night at Tesoro

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RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA – After grinding out a 50-47 State Southern Regional Division II victory over visiting San Gabriel Academy Thursday night, the Tesoro High Titans will have just one Friday practice to prepare for its next opponent, also at home, on Saturday evening.

Not that Coach Steve Garrett’s team will need a whole lot of prep time for the Orange Lutheran Lancers in their 7 o’clock semifinal, though:

That’s the team that it knocked off in the CIF Southern Section 3AA championship game last Saturday night at Edison High in Huntington Beach – the same opponent the Titans spent the better part of week preparing for.

“I thought the coaches really had us ready (for Orange Lutheran) the first time,” said Tesoro senior guard Carson Brown (pictured), after his 24 points – 11 of those in the fourth quarter – helped the Titans go 31-4 with their 14th win in a row.

“And they’ll do a good job giving us a good game plan (for Saturday), too.”

If getting the ball to Brown (a leading candidate for Orange County Player of the Year and a lock to be the CIF SS 3AA POY) and classmate Blake Manning deep into the shot clock late in the game was the aim for Tesoro Coach Steve Garrett, it was an approach that ultimately secured the win for the Titans in a game played in front of a near-capacity crowd.

With the Titans up, 45-42, Garrett called time out with 1:06 to go in regulation – and nine seconds to go on the shot clock.

When play resumed, Garrett – taking an inbound pass in front of his bench – methodically dribbled into the lane, where he was able to flip an eight-footer over the top of the 6-foot-5 Mazin Lumori and thru the rim and net just before the buzzer sounded.

But Jayden Mojica, taking a pass from fellow senior Ethan McCloskey, responded at the other end for a 3-point (for a team-high 16 points) to get the Eagles to within two points.

Following another Tesoro timeout (with 48 seconds to go in regulation), Garrett again tapped into his team’s profound ability to executive successfully deep into the shot clock.

Manning, catching a pass along the right baseline, just short of the lane, backed his way down against Mojica, attempted to turn over his left (strong, for a right hander) shoulder but Mojica was overplaying him in that direction.

Not to worry, though.

Manning, spun to his right, dipped under Mojica’s right arm, and flipped the ball – with his left (off) hand off the glass for another just-before-the-buzzer bucket with 15.6 seconds on the game clock.

“Those kind of shots are ones I always work on,” Manning (who also hit three free throws to tie the score earlier in the quarter after being fouled while missing a 3) said, non-plussed while accepting congratulations for classmates.

The Eagles (the CIF SS 3A champions, whose season ended at 20-15) missed on another transition 3-point attempt and, after rebounding, Brown was fouled with 5.2 seconds remaining.

He hit the first of two free throws for a five-point edge and McCloskey ended the scoring with a left-handed layup at the buzzer.

By the way, many props to McCloskey. He’s the son of SGA Coach Kevin McCloskey and a father – and a coach – couldn’t be prouder of a player’s on- and off-court effort.

Ethan McCloskey was one of the top-Class of 2023-point guard prospects in Southern California before suffering ACL (early in his junior season) and ankle injuries that required surgery and resulted in his not returning to the court – at, according to his father, about “75 percent” to play until early in February.

Some college is going to land a quality player – and remarkable student, too. He’s got a 4.4 grade point average and scored “5s” on seven Advance Placement course finals. That means he’s already banked about seven college courses on his transcript before he steps into a college classroom as a “freshman”.

Amazing . . .

In other State Regional action Thursday night:

*A third Orange County-based program, Newport’s Pacifica Christian, will be playing in the other Division II semifinal Saturday night.

Coach Jeff Berokoff’s Mariners improved to 25-9 with their 48-38 decision over visiting L.A. King/Drew.

They’ll navigate the north-bound 5 and 101 freeways Saturday afternoon for a 7 o’clock game at 31-3 Oxnard.

*Mater Dei pulled off the only “seed upset” in the Southern Division I quarterfinals Thursday night, with the Monarchs (who won the Southern Section Division 1 title Saturday by knocking off Etiwanda in the Honda Center) winning at No. 4 seed St. Bernard, 69-66.

Freshmen Luke Barnett (25 points, including five 3s) and Brannon Martinsen (18 points and 11 rebounds) leading the way for Coach Gary McKnight’s 29-6 crew.

The Monarchs visit Sherman Oaks Saturday night to take on the division’s top seed, Notre Dame, and its three dynamic players in seniors Dusty Stromer and Caleb Foster (who signed with Gonzaga and Duke, respectively, in November) and junior Mercy Miller, who is “committed” to the University of Houston.

*The stage was set for the other Division I Southern semifinal by way Bishop Montgomery (68-60 vs. Rancho Christian) and Sierra Canyon (61-55 against Etiwanda) home wins Thursday night.

It will be a rematch, too, of a CIF SS Open pool contest played at Bishop Montgomery on Valentine’s Night (Feb. 14) and won by the host Knights, 51-49, thanks to a late jump shot by senior Christian Jones.

Seniors Bronny James (Sierra Canyon) and Will Smith III (Bishop Montgomery) scored 21 and 20 points for their respective teams Thursday night.

*CIF SS 4AA champion Valencia and runner-up St. Bonaventure are just a win apiece from playing in a Tuesday night rematch that will determine the Southern rep in the March 11 state D IV title game in Sacramento.

The top seed Valencia Vikings (24-10) cruised to their second regional win Thursday night while toppling L.A. City member Van Nuys Grant, to move into a Saturday night semifinal against Long Beach Jordan.

And St. Bonaventure (which lost to the Vikings, 65-62, on Feb. 25 at Mira Costa High) will play San Pedro Saturday night after the Seraphs’ 59-48 win against Chula Vista’s Victory Christian Academy.

*In Division V, Lynwood moved to within two wins of playing in its first-ever state championship game after handling North Torrance Thursday night, 85-59.

The Knights, coached by Jason Crowe and led by his freshman son, Jason Crowe Jr., will play host to an opponent that won’t have far to travel Saturday night – South Gate (which beat another near-by opponent, Garfield, Thursday night).

The campuses are separated by about 3.4 miles, in a vertical line thru the 105 Freeway.

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