Orange County : 4-A PREP BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS : El Toro Gets Going and Brings Down Damien

Bret Johnson scored 23 points and had 7 assists Friday night to lead El Toro High School over Damien, 77-69, in a Southern Section 4-A boys’ basketball playoff game at El Toro.

El Toro (20-5), the South Coast League runner-up, had a strong fourth quarter to help it advance to the second round, where the Chargers will play Buena Tuesday.

“It’s nice to win 20 games,” said Tim Travers, El Toro coach. “It’s the first time in our history that we’ve done that.”

Damien (15-9), the Baseline League runner-up, started fast in both halves but could not sustain its leads.

“It seemed like we got tired (in the fourth quarter)--in the second too,” said Howard Davis, Damien coach.

The score was tied, 51-51, after three quarters when El Toro switched to a zone defense that helped its rebounding and fast break. In a three-minute span after the switch, El Toro outscored Damien, 14-6.

Bret Johnson scored 12 of his points from beyond the three-point line to stretch Damien’s defense, and allow Khari Johnson more room inside.

“I don’t like shooting two-pointers,” Bret Johnson said. “You get more from shooting from a little further back.”

Damien limited Bret Johnson to five points in the second half (he scored 17 in the first), but Eric Speaker took over the offense in the third quarter. Speaker scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half and scored eight points in a two-minute span of the third quarter.

“I wanted to get (Speaker) more involved,” Travers said.

Speaker spent the first half trying to figure out how to score against Damien’s Mike Bateman.

“Their best defender was the guy guarding me,” Speaker said. “I noticed what he was doing and adjusted.”

Damien was led by Kelvin Woods, who scored 23 points to tie Bret Johnson for the game-high. Woods scored 14 second-half points.

But Woods was outnumbered by El Toro’s frontline. Cory Wayland had 14 rebounds and Khari Johnson had 7.