Etiwanda and Rancho Verde, coached by two disciples of defensive guru Dave Kleckner, went at it with the kind of defensive intensity that Kleckner would have appreciated in the semifinals of the North Orange County tournament at Sonora on Friday night.
After Etiwanda opened a 12-point halftime lead, Rancho Verde took a one-point lead at the end of the third quarter on a buzzer-beating three by Charles Knight.
Then Etiwanda regained its defensive intensity in the fourth quarter to pull away for a 63-57 victory. Etiwanda (12-0) will play Heritage Christian in Saturday’s championship game.
Igniting the Eagles’ fourth-quarter run was sophomore Devin Mitchell, who scored six of his 14 points in the period. Etiwanda got into trouble after a 35-23 halftime lead by committing five fouls in the opening four minutes of the second half. Semaj Carter made eight consecutive free throws for Rancho Verde (8-2) and finished with 19 points. Knight got hot in the second half, making four threes and finishing with 22 points.
Kleckner coached at Etiwanda for 28 years before he turned over the program to former assistant Daniel Ryan. Rancho Verde coach Braydon Bortolamedi was the junior varsity coach last season at Etiwanda. So it was like watching two teams using identical strategies.
Heritage Christian 45, Anaheim Canyon 42: Dominic Loehle made a basket with 25 seconds left to break a tie and lift Heritage Christian into the championship game of the North Orange County tournament. Loehle finished with 16 points.
Santa Margarita 92, Village Christian 85: The Eagles led by double digits in the fourth quarter before Village Christian made it close. Brayden Kyman scored 24 points and Drew Anderson 19. Freshman Will Conroy had 26 points for Village Christian.
Crespi 79, Brooklyn (N.Y.) Eagle Academy II 72: Cayman Martin finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds for Crespi at St. Joseph in Santa Maria.
St. Francis 68, La Salle 54: Cherif Millogo led St. Francis with 27 points, 15 rebounds and seven blocks.
Meridian (Id.) Owyhee 53, Damien 47: In Idaho, the Spartans put up a fight before falling. Eli Garner had 22 points and 10 rebounds.
Cypress 75, Orange Lutheran 66: Gavin Kroll finished with 25 points for Cypress.
Moorpark 70, Westlake 64: Logan Stotts had 25 points for Moorpark.
Venice 60, Fairfax 50: The Gondoliers picked up an important Western League win. A’Jonn Mitchell finished with 25 points for Venice.
San Francisco Archbishop Riordan 89, Inglewood 84: Jason Crowe Jr. scored 23 points and Cayim White had 21 points for Inglewood.
St. Bernard 75, El Cajon Christian 53: Brandon Granger had 33 points and Chris Rupert scored 17 points for St. Bernard.
Loyola 64, Stockton St. Mary’s 46: Mattai Carter had 19 points for Loyola.
Potomac (Md.) Bullis 70, Redondo Union 62: At DeMatha, Redondo Union received 14 points from Chris Sanders in a defeat.
