HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Mt. Miguel on Way to Being a Class Act

There was one statistic that stood out when Mt. Miguel went 2-21 last season, Coach Bill Sullivan’s first at the school.

And it had nothing to do with basketball.

Sullivan lost seven players to academic ineligibility last year. But the Matadors have turned it around, on the court and in the classroom.

Mt. Miguel led from the start Friday night as the Matadors ran over Valhalla, 90-76, in a nonleague game at Valhalla.

“We started with 12 kids, and we still have the same 12 kids,” Sullivan said. “They’ve worked hard, and I think now they are starting to reap some of those rewards. I think they feel they have something to prove.”

The reward Friday was a road victory over the Grossmont 2-A League favorite Norsemen. Mt. Miguel improved to 9-3 and is playing well enough to challenge Monte Vista in the Grossmont 3-A League.

“This was a big game for us,” Sullivan said. “We were concerned because we hadn’t played well against good teams.”

The Matadors took care of that against Valhalla (8-8).

Mt. Miguel scored the first seven points, as Valhalla couldn’t handle the Matadors’ press, and led, 24-17, after the first quarter. The Matadors then built a 45-33 halftime lead on 14 points from Shannon Lafever and 11 from Chris Esquibel.

Valhalla rallied in the third quarter but could not stop Esquibel, who finished with a career-high 33 points. While Valhalla concentrated on stopping Lafever and Domingo Rivera, Esquibel consistently found his way to the ball and the basket.

He scored Mt. Miguel’s first eight points of the third quarter, but Valhalla still managed to pull within 59-51 on a three-pointer by Tony Lee.

Vahalla never got any closer as Mt. Miguel scored the final six points of the quarter and led, 65-51.

Esquibel tried his first three-point shot of the game to start the fourth quarter and hit air. But he then scored 10 more points as the Matadors cruised to the victory.

Lafever added 29 points for Mt. Miguel. Tory Temple led Valhalla with 18, and Brandon Chase added 11.