Brea Olinda Rises to the Occasion to Defeat Sonora, 67-57

Brea Olinda Coach Gene Lloyd almost couldn’t wait for the final basket in the Wildcats’ 67-57 triumph over Sonora before launching a shot of his own.

“Maybe now we’ll get some respect. We never get mentioned with the good teams in the county,” said Lloyd after Brea Olinda raised its record to 13-2 with Wednesday’s victory.

“Of course, I didn’t want to say it until we had won because [Sonora] is a legitimate top-10 team. I’m thrilled that we could beat them, although I’ll hate to go back to their place next year because most of the kids they have now will be back.”

The Raiders (11-5) may have spent most of the early season in the county top 10, but it is clear something is amiss.

For instance, after two years with an intimidating presence at center in Craig Clark (now at San Jose State and who attended the game here), teams are not afraid to go inside against Sonora--a point Brea Olinda drove home repeatedly, especially when the Wildcats outscored the Raiders, 22-11, in the fourth quarter.

The Raiders also are stumbling on offense, as they seem to lack a go-to player at the game’s crucial moments.

“We haven’t been executing well,” Sonora Coach Mike Murphy said. “We’ve been in too big a hurry to shoot; one or two passes and fire. That’s what we were doing in Hawaii [at a recent tournament], and that’s what we’ve been trying to work on.”

The Wildcats definitely knew who their key player was in the last eight minutes.

Guard John Heredia scored nine of his 12 points in the fourth quarter, and his driving layup with about three minutes to play gave Brea a 54-52 edge and a lead they would not relinquish.

“[Heredia is] one of the best point guards in the county. I told him to take over and he did,” Lloyd said.

Brea also was tough at the free-throw line, making all 13 of its attempts.

Five Wildcat players finished in double figures, led by Sean Wink, who had 14 points.

Sonora’s Jeffrey Berokoff had 14 for Sonora.