Edison gets revenge with comeback victory over Tesoro in second round of Tustin Classic

Connor Mcnally (left) and Jayden Oei led Edison to a victory Friday. (PHOTOS: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).

Edison High School basketball players had a little revenge on their mind Friday night in a second round Tustin Classic pool play game against Tesoro.

Tesoro defeated Edison 45-44 in the Portola-Woodbridge Classic earlier this month and appeared on its way to another win Friday over the Chargers at Tustin.

The Titans moved out to a 7-point lead with four minutes left in the game before the Chargers rallied to win 53-47 for their second straight win in the tourney which has a pool play format.

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Tesoro’s Max Draper was the game-high scorer with 21 points. Adam Smaili had 10 points and Carson Hatch eight points for the Titans (11-6), who led 27-21 at halftime.

Guard Jayden Oei led the way for Edison with 18 points, including eight points in the fourth quarter.

“We already lost to them earlier in the season so I hate losing, so just that we already lost to them before, I didn’t want to lose to them twice,” Oei said. “We were down seven, I came into the timeout and I said, ‘we’re not losing, we’re not losing no matter what, if we have to get that extra rebound and dive on the floor, just do what you have to do to get the win.’

“I didn’t hit a lot of shots, but I hit a few shots when it mattered, so that’s what counts.”

Oei’s 3-pointer with 2:27 left cut the lead to 47-43. Senior forward Connor McNally also delivered capping a 3-point play on a free throw with 2:06 to make it 47-46. McNally wound up with 16 points.

Then Oei’s layup put Edison ahead 48-47 with 1:45 remaining. Senior forward Derick Johnson, who missed the first meeting against Tesoro, extended the margin to 50-47. Tesoro was unable to connect on a possible tying 3-pointer and Edison held on for the win.

Johnson wound up with 10 points.

“We played them before and they beat us by one, so we wanted to get our revenge,” Mcnally said. “We started out pretty bad and they did a good job taking us out of our set plays and our half-court offense.

“In the second half, we found a way to out-grit them and out-tough them. It’s really nice having our football kids back, especially Devyn (Blake) and Jacob Martin, they really help bring the energy to our team. They really pushed us around in the first game, and we knew we had to come in and be more physical than them and that helped us get the win tonight.”

Edison Coach Josh Beaty was thrilled with the comeback and the win.

“These kids are tough, we played really poorly and they looked up at the scoreboard and they said, ‘oh my gosh, we’re down seven,'” he said. “They found a way. Our good shooters shot poorly, but they turned it on in the end, it’s toughness.”

Beaty said having three members of Edison’s CIF and state football championship team (Martin, Blake and Teo Hampton) on the basketball squad helped too.

“They really energized us because now that’s a different energy at practice and a different energy on the bench during games, they just bring toughness,” Beaty said. “It just brings a different dynamic.”

Tesoro Coach Steve Garrett praised the effort of both teams.

“It was a good game, a solid, back and forth game,” he said. “I was bummed at the finish. I was proud of the guys how we battled, I’m glad we put ourselves in a position to win. You don’t want to give up seven (point lead) with four minutes left. I’m proud of our guys, Edison is a great team and we’re a very young team. I like learning and winning.”

Edison is the only undefeated team in pool A, faces Grants Pass Saturday at 6 p.m. Tesoro, 1-1 in pool A, faces Laguna Hills Saturday at 4:30 p.m.

The championship game is Monday at 7:30 p.m.

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