El Toro Is Done in by Turnovers

Trying to keep pace with a quick and aggressive team like Rialto is a lot to ask of any team. Especially one that gives the ball away 17 times in the first half.

El Toro got off to a bad start, dishing out 13 first-quarter turnovers--10 coming on Rialto steals--and lost its Southern Section Division I-AA boys’ basketball quarterfinal, 87-70, Friday night at Capistrano Valley High.

The Chargers (24-5) had no answer for the Knights’ speed and tenacity and turned the ball over 11 times in the first six minutes of the game.

“Their quickness really hurt us,” said Charger Coach Todd Dixon. “That’s definitely the most turnovers we’ve had in a half.” Maybe so, but even precision passing might not have been enough for the Chargers, who were beaten, for the most part, by Jocques Sconiers. The Knight guard had a game-high 26 points and seven steals.

After the first quarter, the Rialto defense was so aggressive that it almost wound up hurting the Knights, foul-wise. The Chargers trailed, 39-20, late in the second quarter, but 11 of 11 free-throw shooting kept them in the game, as did a 10-0 run just before halftime.

Consecutive baskets by El Toro’s Matt Green cut the Rialto lead to 41-36 early in the third quarter, but the Knights (24-5) ran away over the next three minutes to build the lead back to 58-41.

“We beat ourselves, they weren’t better than us,” said El Toro’s Ashkan Nazeri, who had 18 points. “Seventeen turnovers in the first half--you can’t win a game like that.”