Cougars Close With Late Run but Still Lose to Poly, 57-44

Long Beach Poly held off a late rally by Capistrano Valley to post a 57-44 victory in the quarterfinal round of the Division I-AA boys’ basketball playoffs Friday night at Long Beach College.

Long Beach Poly (27-5) held a 30-21 lead at halftime and extended the advantage to 43-31 after three quarters.

But Capistrano Valley (20-9) went on a 10-0 run starting the fourth quarter and cut the lead to 43-41 on a basket by Ryan Badrtalei with 5 minutes 36 seconds left.

The Cougars then moved to within 45-44 on a three-point field goal by Mike Stowell with 4:20 left.

But the Jackrabbits countered with a 12-0 run to seal the victory.

Long Beach Poly, which made eight three-pointers in the game, was led by sophomore Wesley Stokes, who scored 14 points.

“We couldn’t contain [Stokes],” said Capistrano Valley Coach Brian Mulligan. “He hurt us real real bad.

“We tried to stop their inside game. We just looked at their team and said ‘If they are going to beat us, they are going to beat us from the outside,’ and they beat us from the outside.”

Stowell led Capistrano Valley with 21 points. He made six of 14 field goals and made six of six free throws.

Josh Garrett had 10 points and seven rebounds and Badrtalei had eight points and seven rebounds for the Cougars.