Jaiden Sabino of Woodbridge is congratulated by his teammates after Friday’s win. (PHOTOS: Tim Burt,OC Sports Zone).
Woodbridge’s boys basketball team got the revenge it was looking for defeating Irvine 61-43 in the semifinals of the Pacific Coast League post-season tournament Friday night at Irvine.
To see the slide show, click on the first photo:
Irvine defeated Woodbridge 43-37 in the regular season league game to open the season, but the Warriors star guard Jaiden Sabino missed the game with a broken hand on his non-shooting hand.
Sabino, who returned to the lineup a couple weeks ago, is healthy and had a big impact on Friday’s game, providing a spark for his team with a game high 22 points and three 3-pointers.
Both teams had already clinched CIF playoff berths going into the game, but at stake was a trip to the league championship game Tuesday night at Woodbridge. Woodbridge (18-9) will take on Portola at 7:30 p.m. in the final.
Portola (22-5) has also clinched a CIF playoff berth. The Bulldogs won their 15th in a row Friday defeating Sage Hill 75-67. Woodbridge has won five in a row.
Irvine (16-11) will meet Sage Hill Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the third place game. Holden Stearns scored 10 points and Jalen Yim nine points to lead the Vaqueros Friday night.
As the clock wound down, Sabino started celebrating with his Warrior teammates.
“It means a lot, the last three games we’ve played here we’ve lost and came short but together all my guys came out and played amazing,” said Sabino, a senior. “I’m must glad we got it done. Coming back from an injury, it feels great to come out and everyone plays better when I’m playing. Great team win, everyone did their thing.”
Sabino had some help in the victory.
Teammates Garrett DiCostanzo and Zacc Saleh had 12 points each and Kishan Pandho 10 points for the Warriors who now prepare for the finals.
“Portola is a great team,” Sabino said. “They play with great chemistry as well so it’s going to be a battle for sure, we’re all ready for it, we lost to them the first time so we’re coming in with a chip on our shoulder for sure.”
Woodbridge held a 16-13 lead after one quarter and extended the margin to 29-23 when Sabino hit a 3-point field goal at the end of the second quarter. Sabino was called for a technical foul due to daunting but Irvine missed both free throws.
“My emotions kind of took over but that doesn’t need to be part of my game, I just let my game do the talking for me,” Sabino said.
The Warriors outscored the Vaqueros 15-8 in the third quarter to take a 44-31 lead after three quarters and were comfortably ahead in the final stanza.
“The kids played hard, they played together, defensively we were really good, just staying tight on all their shooters and not letting them go on their runs,” said Woodbridge Coach Steve Scoggin.
Scoggin has been a happier coach since Sabino’s return.
“It’s nice to have him back, he was the four-year varsity starter who showed up,” he said. “Scoring was there, but his leadership with the guys all week and during the game keeping the guys focused in the mindset is what we is supposed to be doing.”
Scoggin added that Pandho and DiCostanzo have “been really, really good for us these last five games, defensively and offensively.”
Irvine Coach Harry Meussner praised Woodbridge for its solid play.
“Obviously, you got to start by giving credit to Woodbridge,” he said. “They’re a heckuva team, they played really well tonight, they played together, ran their sets well and they executed. On our end, I thought we battled hard, especially on the defensive end. They made some really tough shots, we need to rebound a little better definitely and then offensively, we could have executed a little better like and be more aggressive in the fourth, like we were earlier in the game.
“It’s a lesson learned and we’re obviously disappointed we’re not heading to the championship but really, really proud of the run we made and the basketball we’re playing in January. To go to the playoffs three years in a row is a really special milestone and we hope to take that privilege with a lot of seriousness and a lot of competitive nature and get after it and try and go on another run like we did last year.”
Meussner acknowledged Sabino’s affect on Woodbridge.
“First of all, I’m happy to see him healthy,” Meussner said. “And I wish him good health the rest of the way, he deserves to have his senior year with him healthy. It was great to compete against Woodbridge at full strength because that’s a really talented team and Jaiden Sabino is one of the most talented players in league so you want to compete against guys like that and I think that made us better tonight.”
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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