Beckman and Irvine capture PCL boys basketball openers

Dylan Thorner led Beckman with 26 points Tuesday against Portola.

Beckman’s boys basketball team, behind the 26-point performance of Dylan Thoerner, defeated Portola 67-44 Tuesday night in the Pacific Coast League opener for both schools.

It was also the first varsity game for Portola (7-7 overall).

Beckman (9-3, 1-0) also had strong efforts from Aaman Soma with seven points and 11 rebounds; Tommy Feldman, with seven points and Shubh Khandhadia with six points and two 3-pointers.

Mohsen Hashemi had 12 points and David Kenduck and Jeffrey Chen had nine points each for Portola (7-7, 0-1) 

“We had a pretty rusty first half, maybe because we hadn’t played in a week and it’s also finals week for us,” said Beckman Coach John Goins.

“We weren’t finishing around the rim, I think we were 5 of 22 in the paint in the first half. I told the guys at halftime to focus more. We were getting the shots we wanted and overall defending adequately, but I wanted to see us execute better.

“We went into half with a 34-21 lead, but then outscored them in the third quarter 21-10 to break it open 55-31 to start the fourth quarter. I got to play my bench to get some guys minutes and save some legs for our two games later this week.”

Beckman did well on rebounding, Goins said.

“I think the key stat was 22 offensive rebounds for us, which has been a key stat for us all season,” he said. “We are getting extra shots every game thanks to our physicality in the paint. If we can continue to rebound like that, we will continue to have success.

“I also thought that Portola has a really good squad for a first year varsity program. They’ve played some tough teams during non-league and have wins over some well respected programs. I’m looking forward to competing against them when we go to their place. Coach Smith has built a fine program over there and they are a great addition to our league.”

At Irvine, Irvine defeated Woodbridge 55-51 in a PCL opener.

Kyle Anderson scored 17 points, Chris Dean had 12 and Hunter Anderson 10 points for Irvine (7-7, 1-0).

Luciano Bettus scored 12 points and Chris Cooper and Brian Bae had nine points each to lead Woodbridge (3-9, 0-1).

“We had an 8 point lead early in the fourth but Kyle Anderson made two big three’s down the stretch to turn the tide,” said Woodbridge Coach John Halagan.

“We just couldn’t get a stop the last three minutes and eventually the game turned. Coach (Kris) Klamberg’s kids executed well down the stretch.”