PHOTOS: Cooper Stearns fuels Irvine’s CIF 2A quarterfinal playoff road win over Cabrillo

Irvine’s Ali Dal maintains control of the ball, as Cabrillo’s Marquees MJ Reed Jr. defends Tuesday night in the quarterfinals. (Photos courtesy Mark Bausman, For OC Sports Zone).

Cooper Stearns recorded a triple double, and Irvine needed every bit of his contribution to hold off Long Beach Cabrillo for a 71-66 victory Tuesday night in a CIF Division 2A boys basketball quarterfinal playoff game before a near capacity crowd at Cabrillo that included a large and boisterous Irvine contingency.

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The senior center scored 25 points, grabbed 16 rebounds, and dished out 11 assists to propel the Vaqueros into the semifinals on the road Friday against St. Bonaventure, which defeated Villa Park on Tuesday. Stearns recorded his second triple-double this post season.

By virtue of the win, the Vaqueros also qualified for the CIF Southern California regional tournament in March.  

“We haven’t been tested like this on the road in a long time,” said Stearns. “Their crowd was loud, but we broke their press in the fourth quarter, and we made great passes that led to baskets, and we were resilient, and we handled adversity.”

Irvine (29-2), champion of the Pacific Coast League, extended its winning streak to 22 games. The Vaqueros never trailed in the game and opened the final quarter with a 52-41 lead.

However, the Jaguars (19-12) rallied and took advantage of four Vaqueros turnovers scoring on seven of their first eight possessions of the fourth quarter. Cabrillo’s guard Aden Jones’ bucket cut the lead to 58-56 with 3:56 to play.

But Irvine continued to play disciplined basketball and effectively ran its offense as the Jaguars continued a heavy press. Several times in the final minutes Stearns dished off pinpoint passes, despite being double teamed, to teammates for easy layups.

“We were all a little nervous before the game and they pressed us and we made some turnovers,” said senior Vaqueros guard Ali Dal, who scored 12 points. “They made their run, and we remained patience and made our run. It was loud but we always felt we were going to win. It’s really exciting, it’s a huge win.”

Irvine displayed poise down the stretch scoring on seven of their its eight possessions, and made five free throws in the final 30 seconds. Holden Stearns and Jalen Yim converted four free throws in the final 15 seconds of the game to secure the victory.

“We proved that we are resilient,” said Yim, who scored 12 points, including two 3-pointers. “We played with confidence down the stretch.”

Holden Stearns, Cooper’s younger brother, said the Vaqueros expected a tough game.

“Our coaches told us coming in that it would be a tough game, that it would be loud and nasty,” said Holden Stearns, who scored 11 points. “They made a run in the final quarter, and we came back hard and bounced back. We played with good energy and intensity.”

Cooper Stearns scored eight points in the first quarter and Irvine led 18-11 after eight minutes of play. Stearns scored 10 of Irvine’s 16 points in the second quarter as the Vaqueros took a 34-23 halftime lead. Stearns was extremely effective in the paint and his passing was outstanding.

Irvine never let up as it continued to move the ball efficiently and successfully executed its offense throughout the game. 

The start of the third quarter was delayed for 20 minutes due to the malfunctioning of the game clock. Cabrillo officials brought in a secondary game clock and play resumed. Holden Stearns scored 10 points in the third quarter, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer, and the Vaqueros took a 52-41 lead into the final quarter.

“I’m very proud of our guys,” said Irvine Coach Harry Meussner. “Cabrillo is a very talented team, and they were playing their game in the third quarter by pressing us, but we stayed positive, played with high energy, and executed our offense. It got a little crazy with the delay to start the second half because of the clock problems, but we remained resilient and made the proper adjustments. Our team has continued to play with discipline and consistency. We never let our foot off the pedal, and it shows the character of our team. We continue to grind.”

Jones led Cabrillo with 21 points and Mason Johnson added 16 points. Lincoln Dean and Marquees MJ Reed Jr. also scored in double figures for the Jaguars with 13 and 11 points, respectively.