Pacific Hills Wins Division V Title

The Pacific Hills boys’ basketball team, for the first time in three weeks, did not have to work overtime to win a championship, as the Bruins defeated Stockton Christian, 69-52, Saturday in the state Division V final at Arco Arena.

It was the first state title for the Bruins, and they did it without the drama of their Southern Section and state regional finals.

But this one was no less satisfying.

“If you wrote a book about destiny, I guess this is it,” Pacific Hills Coach John Bobich said.

If not, it’s pretty close.

Pacific Hills (28-7) won a Southern Section V-A semifinal by defeating top-seeded Montclair Prep, 83-82, in triple overtime. The Bruins won the section title two days later with an 82-76 overtime victory over Santa Clara.

Last Saturday, Pacific Hills advanced to the state final with an 81-79 triple-overtime victory over San Diego Horizon, a team that was heavily favored to represent Southern California in the state championship game.

And for one half of Saturday’s game against Brookside Christian (31-2), it looked as though Pacific Hills might be heading toward another close finish.

The Bruins were behind, 24-19, with 2:30 left in the second quarter after Brookside Christian’s Orlando Evans made a bomb from outside for three of his team-high 20 points. But Pacific Hills closed with an 8-0 run to take a 26-24 lead at halftime.

The Bruins started the third quarter with another 8-0 run.

“We stepped up in the second half,” said Pacific Hills forward Conrad Adamczak, a senior who scored a game-high 23 points and had nine rebounds. “Everyone off the bench was so strong.”

Junior forward Ryan Abrahams scored 16 points, junior center Rodney Harvey added 10 and junior point guard Brandon Owens had nine for the Bruins, who were making their third appearance in the championship game. In 1989, when Pacific Hills was named Bel Air Prep, it lost to Atherton Menlo and in 1994 to Ripon Christian.

San Diego University 51, Redding Enterprise 48--Luke Walton scored 23 points, pulled down 13 rebounds and also blocked a potential game-tying three-point shot with two seconds left to help give the Dons their first Division III championship.

Walton, a 6-foot-8 senior who will play next season at Arizona, is the son of Bill Walton. A younger brother, Chris, a sophomore, also contributed to the win.