Tenacious Tesoro gets past Northwood 69-29 to reach semifinals of Gary Raya Classic

Tesoro’s Matt DeAngelo applies defensive pressure against Devon Huang of Northwood Wednesday night. (Photo Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone)

Tesoro’s boys basketball team stepped up the defensive intensity Wednesday night and the result was a 69-29 victory over Northwood in the second round of the Gary Raya So Cal Elite Classic at Portola.

The victory sends Tesoro (8-1) into the semifinals of the tournament Friday at 5:30 p.m. against Yorba Linda at Northwood. Tesoro is the defending champion of the tournament.

“I feel like we forced our way on them early in the second quarter,” said Tesoro Coach Steve Garrett. “I thought our defense picked up and that really helped us offensively.”

Tesoro got plenty of offense too led by Kaden Garrett, who had 16 points. Mike Mahlen had 13 points, Chris Allen 12 points and Matt DeAngelo 11 points. Garrett had six rebounds and DeAngelo five rebounds.

“On offense, we’re always going to play together and get good shots,” Garrett said. “It’s a really close knit unselfish group that looks for each other and they have all my trust to play freely as long as we’re taking the shots we’re looking for.

“It was good to have my bench play good as well and see them do some good things. Those guys work really hard in practice. “

Tesoro led 34-16 at halftime and then moved out to a 48-22 lead going into the final stanza.

Northwood (2-7) was led by Shandon Sharifi with seven points and Devon Huong and Trent Harper with six points each.

RELATED: Schedule for semifinals of Gary Raya Classic

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