La Habra suffers opening round CIF Division 1 playoff loss to St. Bernard at home

La Habra seniors get together for one final time on the court after Wednesday’s game. (PHOTOS: Tom Connolly, For OC Sports Zone).

La Habra’s boys basketball season came to an end Wednesday night as the Highlanders fell to St. Bernard 63-51 in an opening round game of the CIF Division 1 playoffs before a capacity crowd at La Habra. 

To see additional photos, click on the first picture:

St, Bernard (18-11) avenged an earlier season loss to the Highlanders and advances to round two of the playoffs. St. Bernard will host Inglewood on Friday. Inglewood defeated Tesoro on Wednesday 102-70. La Habra finished the season 21-8.

Chris Rupert scored 14 points, Brandon Granger scored 13 points and Gary Ferguson added 10 points to lead the Vikings, who have won seven of their last eight games.

“We picked up our intensity and played harder on defense,” said the 6-10 Rupert, who posed problems for the Highlanders in the paint for most of the game.

La Habra forward Acen Jimenez led all scorers with 21 points. Jimenez’s 13 points in the opening quarter gave La Habra a 16-12 edge after the first period.

However, the Vikings turned the tide of the game in the second quarter as they scored on 13 of their 16 possessions in the period and outscored the Highlanders 27-12 in the quarter to build a 39-28 halftime lead.

“They scored nearly 40 points in the first half, and we can’t have that with our season on the line,” said Jimenez, a Dartmouth College commit. “Nevertheless, it was a great season, and our team is like a family.”

Rupert and Feguson led a 21-8 Vikings run over the final six minutes of the second quarter as St. Bernard built a double-digit lead at the break.

“We brought more intensified energy in the second quarter,” said Ferguson.

St. Bernard upped its lead to 43-28 after Jordan Ballard made two free throws at the 6:51 mark of the third quarter and it appeared the Vikings were cruising.

But Jimenez nailed a 3-pointer and Josh Desatoff drilled two 3-pointers to spark a La Habra comeback. Damien Ceballos and Jimenez added buckets down the stretch as the Highlanders completed a 16-6 run to finish the quarter and cut the lead to 49-43 after three quarters.

La Habra senior guard Jayden Martinez hit a 3-pointer to start the final quarter to trim the lead to 49-46 with 7:19 remaining in the game, but then the Highlanders comeback hopes quickly faded.

La Habra turned the ball over seven times and scored only five points the remainder of the way. In the meantime, the Vikings increased their defensive pressure and scored critical baskets to pull away.

“We knew they are a good 3-point shooting club, and we know they play well at home,” said St. Bernard Coach Bernard McCrumbly. “But we felt if we kept grinding it out, we would wear them down with our athleticism and size. We’ve been battled tested this season and we were ready for a game in a loud environment like this. Now, it’s on to Inglewood for a revenge game.”

Despite the setback, La Habra center Noah Poppin remained proud.

“We didn’t play as good of defense as we should have in the first half, and it’s disappointing to have our season end, but overall, we still had a great season,” said Poppin, a senior, who plans to play junior college football next season.  

Highlanders Coach Aaron Riekenberg said the players should still be proud of waht they accomplished.

“We had a 21-win season, and we finished second in the tough Crestview League,” said Riekenberg. “Tonight, we committed too many turnovers, and our offense didn’t execute as good as it could have, but the guys don’t have to hang their heads. These guys never quit and they played hard all season. We wish we were still playing but I’m proud of these guys.”

Desatoff made four 3-pointers in the game and scored 15 points for La Habra.

Notes:

—St. Bernard captured the Del Rey League title this season. The Vikings improved their road record this season to 15-8.    

—La Habra finished with 10-2 home record for the season.  

—The Highlanders defeated St. Bernard 60-50 on Nov. 22 earlier this season. “I didn’t have half of my team in November,” said McCrumby, who added he had five transfer players who weren’t eligible to play until January.

—Jimenez, the all-time leading scorer in La Habra school history, finishes the season averaging 25 points per game and scored over 2,000 points in his career. He also played in more winning basketball games than any other player in La Habra history.

—-La Habra freshman guard Aaron Wilson played a strong defensive game but fouled out with 2:34 to play. Granger, Vikings leading scorer this season, fouled out with2:17 left in the game.    

—-At halftime, La Habra athletic director Paul Caffrey recognized the Highlanders cheerleading squad for winning the Division 1 CIF championship. In addition, the La Habra Song and Dance teams were also recognized. The teams placed in fourth and fifth place in a national competition held in Florida recently.