Tesoro holds on for narrow win over Edison in exciting Portola-Woodbridge Classic game

Tesoro Coach Steve Garrett draws up for a play for his team late in Friday’s game. (PHOTOS: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).

Tesoro High School’s boys basketball team held off a late charge by Edison to capture a 45-44 victory Friday night in the Portola-Woodbridge Classic at Woodbridge.

It marked the third win in a row at the event for Coach Steve Garrett’s Titans (7-1). Tesoro wraps up play meeting Portola Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at Portola. No tournament is crowned in the annual event.

The teams were tied 23-23 at halftime, but the intensity picked up in the second half.

“I was pleased with our guys, we stayed steady with our defense, which was really good,” Garrett said. “We were making enough plays. I thought we got great shots the whole second half, some fell, some didn’t. Some of their defenders took some charges. It was a good, league type game.

“Edison is a good team and I know they just beat San Clemente last night in overtime, so that was good for us to take on that challenge.”

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Tesoro was led by Dean Mika and Max Draper, who had 11 points each. Anish Pagidyala added eight points for the Titans.

Edison (4-5) was led by senior guard Jayden Oei, who was the game’s leading scorer with 28 points. Oei scored 37 points in the Chargers 62-58 overtime win over San Clemente Thursday night.

Edison, led by Coach Josh Beaty, has been without injured starting point guard Derick Johnson.

Tesoro held a 31-27 lead after three quarters before Edison moved ahead by one point. Oei sank a 3-pointer to put Edison ahead 39-38.

Tesoro regained the lead and moved ahead 42-39 on a basket by Draper with 1:20 left.

Edison cut the lead to 42-41 with 34 seconds remaining on a basket by Connor McNally with 34 seconds left. The Chargers were forced to foul and Pagidyala sank two free throws with 18 seconds left to move ahead by three.

The Chargers called timeout to set up a possible tying 3-pointer, but Oei’s shot fell off. Mika made one free throw to give Tesoro a four-point lead. Oei sank a 3-pointer at the buzzer to account for the final margin.

“Max (Draper) is a good player, it’s his first year on varsity and he’s one of our better athletes, he did a great job, he has a knack for scoring and making big plays at the right time and I liked Anish, he hit free throws down the stretch,” Garrett said.

“The biggest thing for us was trying to pick up the tempo because Edison is very methodical so we were trying to push the ball, I think they had an injured player so they aren’t rotating a ton of guys in so for us, we’re trying to speed them up and pick up the pace a little bit.

“It’s been good, it’s always fun playing in the tournament, they do a good job scheduling games and the games are on time, it’s very hospitable, it’s a great week for us and great for us to play just a variety of teams that we don’t normally play.”

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