La Cañada High boys’ basketball’s lack of experience costs team late versus Keppel
LA CAÑADA – Experience proved to be the difference and the downfall of the La Cañada High boys’ basketball team in Saturday’s third-place game of the La Cañada Tournament.
Visiting Mark Keppel may have been short-handed, but the senior-laden Aztecs made all the crucial plays down the stretch in a 54-49 victory at the Hotchkin Family Gymnasium.
“If you look at Keppel, they’re a senior team and we’re a sophomore-junior team,” Spartans Coach Tom Hofman said. “We allowed some ridiculous back-door layups and they made some big-time plays.
“For us, this is a learning experience before league and we’ll take it.”
The Aztecs (6-3) trailed by five points after three quarters, but enjoyed their best defensive quarter of the contest, winning the fourth, 18-8.
Up, 41-36, to begin the fourth, La Cañada (5-3) allowed 10 of the quarter’s first 14 points in falling behind, 46-45, after a straightaway three-pointer from senior guard Bailey Kikuchi (15 points and three assists) with 3:30 remaining.
With its first lead since early in the third quarter, Keppel added four more points on consecutive baseline layups from Kikuchi off back-to-back assists from Try Shishima.
The final of those two baskets came with 2:01 remaining and gave the Aztecs a 50-45 advantage.
“That’s our system, a lot of passing,” Keppel Coach Hung Duong said. “We don’t necessarily rely on one passer, but on several passers to create opportunities. Fortunately, we did that tonight.”
La Cañada missed a three-point attempt and committed a turnover on its next two possessions before junior guard Koko Kurdoghlian connected on a jumper with 34.3 seconds remaining to slice the deficit to 50-47.
Unfortunately for the Spartans, they never trimmed off any more points, as La Cañada’s strategy of fouling Aztecs senior center Bertram Mak failed.
Mak hit four of four free throws down the stretch in capping a wonderful effort in which the center led all scorers with 30 points and eight rebounds.
“Our defense today just wasn’t as good tonight as it’s been in other games,” said Spartans sophomore center Sean Estes, who led his side with 21 points, eight rebounds and one block and was named to the all-tournament team. “In the fourth quarter, we let them get easy shots and that got us.”
Prior to the fourth, it was the Spartans who enjoyed a strong third quarter as La Cañada won the period, 22-13, which flipped a 23-19 halftime deficit into a 41-36 third-quarter advantage.
The Spartans were aided by their shooting behind the arc in the third, as the team hit four threes, including two from Estes.
The first half played out slower for both sides, as Keppel held a 15-11 lead after one quarter.
The Aztecs nearly took a six-point advantage into the half before Spartans junior guard Ben Choi (eight points) hit a jumper just before the buzzer to shrink his team’s deficit to 23-19 at the break.
Kurdoghlian added eight points, six assists and two blocks for the Spartans.
“Right now, it’s all about getting better as a team and that’s what this tournament gives us an opportunity to do,” Hofman said.
In the evening’s nightcap, Bonita defeated Renaissance Academy, 72-68, to win the tournament title. Bonita’s Joe Quintana was named the tournament MVP.