Impressive Win Has El Toro Looking Upwardly Mobile

El Toro has served notice.

With their 66-52 victory over No. 3 Villa Park Saturday in the championship game of the Holiday Classic at the Anaheim Convention Center, the fourth-ranked Chargers showed they could be the second-best team in Orange County behind Mater Dei.

El Toro, which won its 10th consecutive game to open the season, overwhelmed the Spartans (8-1) in the first half with an exhilarating up-tempo style and shut them down in the second half with tenacious defense.

Tournament MVP Chris Parish made four three-pointers and finished with a game-high 20 points and eight rebounds. Center Matt Green was a force inside, scoring 12 points, grabbing seven rebounds and blocking four shots.

And forward Chris Fairbanks chipped in with the idea to switch to a box-and-one defense on Villa Park’s Matt MacGinnis in the second half, which helped limit the Spartans’ best shooter to three second-half points.

With the convincing victory, Charger players said they felt they deserved to move up in the rankings. But are they ready for the likes of Mater Dei?

“I think we can match up with any of the top five teams [in Orange County],” Green said. “I think teams are going to start respecting us after this.”

Said Parish: “This just proves to everyone that we should be higher [in the rankings] than we are.”

The game was tied at 27 late in the second quarter before the Chargers reeled off 14 consecutive points to take a 41-27 lead early in the third. Villa Park would cut its deficit to three early in the fourth quarter on a pair of Sean Phaler free throws, but El Toro surged back ahead and won going away.

“It’s a nice win for the program and gives us a little more credibility,” El Toro Coach Todd Dixon said. “I think El Toro basketball is definitely on the map.”

MacGinnis led the Spartans with 11 points, and Tommy Stankan and Corey Miller each had 10.