Prep League title returns to Flintridge Prep boys’ basketball
PASADENA — A year ago at this time, the Flintridge Prep boys’ basketball team had ceded its streak of seven consecutive Prep League titles and was in the midst of a season-ending eight-game losing streak.
Fast forward a year and the Rebels are back, at least in regards to Prep League supremacy, as Flintridge Prep pulled away in the fourth quarter to defeat host and archrival Pasadena Poly, 54-37, in league action Tuesday evening.
With the victory, the Rebels clinched their eighth league title in nine seasons as they improved to 15-4 overall and 7-0 in league with one league contest remaining.
For Flintridge Prep Coach Garrett Ohara, the 2015-16 team hardly resembled last year’s squad that finished 8-16 overall and 2-6 in league and tied for last.
“It’s refreshing,” Ohara said. “There was a lot of self-doubt during the offseason about how we could improve.
“If you remember, we lost our last eight games of the season last year, but we started off this year winning our first seven. I think that’s the experience from last year. They wanted something different this year.”
The league championship was the fifth for forward Dante Fregoso in both basketball and volleyball and the senior played an integral role as he led the Rebels with 26 points and 13 rebounds.
“This is a fun experience, especially with these guys,” Fregoso said. “I couldn’t ask for anything more. Last year, we didn’t do so hot, so to go out and win on this court, it’s special.”
Poly (16-5, 2-3) kept Tuesday’s contest close throughout and only trailed, 34-31, after three quarters.
In the fourth, however, the Rebels pulled away by scoring the first eight points, fueled by six points from Fregoso, including on a layup with 6:15 remaining that put the Rebels ahead, 42-31.
While Poly answered with a three-pointer from Jackson Hayes (seven points) to cut the deficit to eight, the Rebels countered with eight straight to take a 50-34 advantage with 3:31 left after a three-point play from Jacob Brawer (11 points).
“Hey, Poly played well and hard and they kept it close for a while,” said Flintridge Prep guard Andrew Tsangeos, who added 10 points, six rebounds and six assists. “I think the big thing for us was going inside. Once we started going inside, we started pulling away.”
Ryan Bowen led the Panthers with 12 points.
The Rebels led, 10-2, after one quarter, but witnessed Poly rally with a 13-5 run to pull even at 15 on a free throw from Brendan Fong (nine points) with 3:18 left in the second quarter.
Flintridge Prep closed the first half with an 8-2 run to take a 23-17 advantage at the break.
While the Rebels led, 29-19, in the third, Poly climbed within 33-31 with 1:17 left in quarter before a free throw from Tsangeos gave Flintridge Prep a three-point lead at the end of three.
“I think if you take a look at this year’s squad, they just bonded better,” Ohara said. “They played an unselfish type of basketball and just had a better camaraderie. Sometimes that’s a big difference between teams that win and teams that lose.”
