Portola finishes strong to defeat Northwood in first PCL game

Colin Huang of Portola brings the ball up against Northwood’s Ryan Abaye as Timberwolves Coach Christian Manalo (far left) looks on Friday night. (Photo: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).

It looked in the early going it might be Northwood’s night.

The Timberwolves jumped out to a one-point lead after one quarter but Portola took charge after that and captured a 61-52 victory in a Pacific Coast League boys basketball game at Portola.

It was the first league game for Portola (6-3, 1-0). Northwood (7-4, 0-2) dropped its second in a row in league and fourth overall. About 400 to 500 fans turned out for the game in the large Portola gym.

“We didn’t have one guy do it, it was a team effort,” said Portola Coach Brian Smith. “I think our key tonight was we got a lot of offensive rebounds and putbacks that we haven’t been getting the last few games. Our outside shooting wasn’t great, but I think our transition was good and finishing at the rim was a lot better today.”

Devin Daniel scored 14 points and Jayden Villanueva had 11 points to lead Portola. Eugene Jung and Colin Huang added 10 points each for the Bulldogs.

Portola outscored Northwood 18-13 in the second quarter and 19-14 in the third stanza to take control.

“We tried to keep attacking because I think Eugune Jung had a great game for us, he’s one of our two seniors,” Smith said. “He hadn’t had much in the last few games so this was kind of a breakout for him and he was needing that because he has the athleticism and if he decides to go strong to the basket, he’s pretty tough to guard.”

Northwood was hoping to bounce back from a tough loss to Woodbridge in overtime in the league opener Tuesday in which the Timberwolves lost a late lead in regulation. Instead, Northwood suffered another setback.

Justin Gee scored 11 points and Aditya Sheth had 10 points to lead Northwood, which has a tournament title to its credit.

“Our shots didn’t fall in the first half and it affected our defense and we gave up too many offensive rebounds,” said Northwood’s first year Coach Christian Manalo. “I thought we did a decent job taking the right shots offensively, but when you give up 20 offensive rebounds, that’s 20 extra possessions, that’s going to be tough to win.

“Shots weren’t going down, we were taking the right shots but we missed four straight three’s off good looks. We’re having some inexperience and we’re trying to fight the storm of trying not to let it have a snowball affect, but that’s how we have to grow. We got to learn from it, we started off 7-0, just like this, we can go 7-0 the other way.

“We have to be resilient. That starts with the coaching staff and our leadership.”

Fans showed up in solid numbers to root for their teams. Under COVID protocol for indoor sports, all fans and cheerleaders were required to wear masks with Portola personnel making periodic checks. In addition, fans were not allowed to bring food or drinks into the gym.

—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com