Long Beach Wilson Easily Knocks Out Capistrano Valley

Capistrano Valley Coach Brian Mulligan knew his team would be tested when it visited Long Beach Wilson Tuesday night.

Mulligan was even more convinced of that after Wilson outmuscled and outran the Cougars in the second half to win, 71-57, in the second round of the Southern Section Division I-AA boys’ basketball playoffs.

This was Wilson’s second consecutive victory over an Orange County team. The Bruins came into the playoffs seeded last in Region II, but knocked off Los Alamitos, the division’s second-seeded team, last week.

Brandee Jones scored 32 points for the Bruins, who advance to meet rival, Long Beach Jordan, a 76-68 winner over Esperanza.

But even though he knew what he might be getting into, Brian Mulligan was still shaking his head a half hour after the game.

“We haven’t played any team that had this kind of quickness anywhere,” Mulligan said. “Not even Mater Dei can move the ball like that.”

Wilson committed just 10 turnovers overall and just plain wore down the Cougars in the final two quarters, taking advantage of many fast breaks with Jones on the other end of plenty of them. The Bruins out-shot Capistrano Valley, 33-20, in the second half.

“We told the team at halftime that they needed to play a more up tempo game,” Wilson Coach Quentin Brown said. “We’re better in the transition game and the pace was just too slow.”

The Cougars, who led 17-12 after the end of the first quarter, were their own worst enemies, turning the ball over 15 times in the second half.

Once Wilson grabbed the lead for good, on a basket by Jones with six minutes, 30 seconds left in the third quarter, the Bruins sat back in their 2-3 zone defense and dared Capistrano Valley to shoot over the top of it. The result was a 13-2 Wilson run that opened quarter, giving the Bruins a 38-29 lead on a layin by Jones with 4:25 remaining.

Capistrano Valley made it 48-42 early in the fourth period on a three-point play by Austin Moherman, who finished with 14 points, but then Wilson finished off the Cougars with a 12-2 run.

Moherman had a game-high 16 rebounds, 11 of those in the first half. Dan Galvanoni scored 22 points and hit four three-pointers for Capistrano Valley. Ryan Thurlow had 10 points.

In other Division I-AA games:

Long Beach Jordan 76, Esperanza 68--Craig Calloway of Long Beach Jordan went 9 for 10 at the free-throw line in overtime to help in Esperanza’s defeat. Drew Gaulden had 17 points and Matt Munson grabbed 11 rebounds to lead Esperanza, which finishes at 15-13.

In Division I-A:

Mater Dei 52, Dana Hills 45--Mater Dei went on 10-3 scoring run in the last to two minutes to salvage a victory without Kevin Augustine, who suffered an injury against El Toro in the first round of the playoffs. His status is day to day.

Freshman Steve Scoggins stepped up in the fourth quarter to score 11 of his 19 points, including four three-pointers, to lead Mater Dei (25-2).

Jeremy Henderson scored 11, including three three-pointers, and Reid Spiegl had 12 assists for Dana Hills (16-13).

Mission Viejo 77, Aliso Niguel 53--Commander Burt scored 18 and Orlando Campbell added 16 to lead Mission Viejo (18-10).

Mission Viejo held Aliso Niguel (18-10) scoreless in the second quarter and scored 23 points to give Mission Viejo a 40-15 halftime lead. Yousof Etemadi scored 12 for Aliso Niguel.

In Division IV-AA:

Los Angeles St. Bernard’s 59, Laguna Beach 46--B.J Jameson scored 16 and Chris Sirianni had 14 points and five assists for Laguna Beach (13-15).

In Division IV-A:

Calvary Chapel 70, Riverside Notre Dame 66--Joe Ortiz scored 26 points as third-seeded Calvary Chapel advanced to the semifinals against Los Angeles Verbum Dei.

Teammate Kevin Falconer had 17 points and 10 assists for the Eagles.

Calvary Chapel (24-4) outscored Notre Dame 30-18 in the first quarter.

Los Angeles Verbum Dei 67, Brethren Christian 48--Dan Muilenburg hit four three-pointers to lead Brethren Christian (15-13) with 12 points.

Kevin Thomas had 10 points and nine rebounds for the Warriors. Marlon Palmer led Verbum Dei (20-5) with 19 points.