Blake Manning leads Tesoro into regional semifinals

Long in the past was a time highschool basketball groups gained with neighborhood youngsters. Tesoro is bringing again reminiscences of one other period.

The Titans have gamers who’ve identified each other because the third grade.

“We’ve dreamed about this since middle school,” guard Blake Manning mentioned.

It was Manning’s layup with 15 seconds left Thursday that proved to be the decisive basket in a 50-47 victory over San Gabriel Academy, pushing the No. 2-seeded Titans into the Southern California Division II regional semifinals. They will face Orange Lutheran on Saturday, the workforce they defeated every week in the past to win the Southern Section 2AA championship. Orange Lutheran defeated St. Pius X-St. Matthias 66-64.

Manning pulled off the shot of the night time. With Tesoro (31-4) clinging to a 47-45 lead, he drove to the basket from the fitting, then switched to his left hand to attain. Manning completed with 12 factors.

Carson Brown, averaging 23.9 factors, got here alive within the fourth quarter after struggling along with his taking pictures. He delivered clutch baskets to maintain his workforce forward, scoring 11 of his 24 factors within the last eight minutes. Jayden Mojica scored 16 factors for San Gabriel Academy.

“This team really cares about each other and have played together since they were in elementary school,” Tesoro coach Steve Garrett mentioned.

Garrett calls Brown the “best guard to ever play at Tesoro.”

Brown mentioned regardless that his photographs weren’t falling, he wasn’t about to cease taking pictures. “I knew if I kept shooting, it was going to fall,” Brown mentioned.

“It’s so great coaching this team,” Garrett mentioned. “It’s a community school and they’re tremendous kids. It’s just a dream to coach these kids.”

Sierra Canyon advances

Dylan Metoyer delivered for Sierra Canyon in a 61-55 win over Etiwanda.

Sometimes Metoyer goes invisible amid the hoopla, the one four-year varsity participant on Sierra Canyon other than Bronny James. His job is to distribute, to manage, and that doesn’t usually make the assorted highlight-heavy cameras that comply with the Trailblazers.

“I feel like people should be taking more notice … the calmness, the poise he brings to the game,” teammate Osiris Nalls Jr mentioned.

Despite a definite aggressiveness from the tip from James, who completed with 21 factors, Etiwanda fought on the glass and performed robust on the inside to by no means let the Trailblazers get an excessive amount of momentum in transition. And a slim fourth-quarter lead slowly dwindled, the Eagles’ Alton Hamilton banging inside and giving Etiwanda all of the momentum with a minute to play, down only a level.

With 12 seconds left on the shot clock out of a timeout, the Trailblazers’ play broke down. Noah Williams dribbled, spun to nowhere, picked the ball up with no choices, and flung a cross-court move to Metoyer on the left wing with only a second remaining within the possession.

Without hesitation, he buried a 3 because the shot-clock expired to place the Trailblazers up 57-53 with 32.5 seconds left.

In different basketball playoff video games:

Reese Widerburg made six three-pointers and completed with 24 factors to assist Oxnard defeat La Mirada 61-58 in Division II. Oxnard will face Newport Beach Pacifica Christian, a 48-38 winner over King/Drew.

Top-seeded Sherman Oaks Notre Dame superior to play Mater Dei within the Division I semifinals after a 59-38 win over Mira Costa. Caleb Foster scored 28 factors for the Knights. Mater Dei defeated St. Bernard 69-66.

No. 2-seeded Bishop Montgomery defeated Rancho Christian 68-60. Will Smith scored 20 factors. The Knights will play host to Sierra Canyon on Saturday.

In Division III, Camarillo defeated Oakwood 54-37, making it a triple win for the Jaquez household. Marcos Jaquez scored eight factors. His brother, Jaime, gained when UCLA defeated Arizona State at Pauley Pavilion and his sister, Gabriela, gained when UCLA defeated Arizona within the Pac-12 event at Las Vegas.

In Division IV, Valencia obtained 24 factors and 24 rebounds from Bryce Bedgood in a 82-65 win over Grant.

Times employees author Luca Evans contributed to this report.