La Habra players, coaches and supporters celebrate after the Highlanders captured the CIF 3AA title Saturday. (Photos courtesy Mark Bausman, For OC Sports Zone).
It took 70 years but the La Habra High School’s boys basketball team captured the first CIF championship in the school’s history.
Highlanders guard Jaedon Anderson scored 22 points and sophomore guard Acen Jimenez added 21 points and top-seeded La Habra applied a tenacious defense to defeat St. Bonaventure 76-45 to win the CIF Division 3AA championship Saturday afternoon at the Toyota Center in Ontario.
The duo converted 23 of 29 free throws.
“I’ve been playing basketball since I was two and one-half years old and I’ve learned you never let up,” said Jimenez. “It was a big game, but I played like it was just another game.”
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St. Bonaventure was also attempting to win its school’s first CIF boys basketball championship. St. Bonaventure lost in last year’s Division 4AA finals to Valencia of Valencia.
The Highlanders (29-4) extended their winning streak to 20 games. La Habra has not lost a game since Dec. 18 against Huntington Beach. The Seraphs (24-9) had their nine game winning streak snapped.
La Habra Coach Aaron Riekenberg said winning the championship is a testament to how hard his players work.
“It means everything in the world to win this championship and become the first team to bring home a title,” said Riekenberg. “We’ve had great support from our principal, Mr. (Steve) Garcia, and our athletic director, Paul Caffrey. They bring an energy to our school that you can feel throughout the campus. I’m so proud of our kids. They have dedicated themselves and have worked so hard all year.”
Not surprisingly, both teams started off the game with a few jitters. Jimenez sunk a couple of baskets early and Christian Howlin drilled back-to-back 3-pointers as the Highlanders took a 19-16 lead after the first quarter.
“I think making a couple of 3’s early helped us a lot, but it helped us pick up our defense,” said Howlin. “We feel when we play good defense, it picks up our offense.”
Joseph Cruz, Jimenez and Ulavai Fetuli (six rebounds and four steals) did an effective job on defense against St. Bonaventure’s best player, Dylan Benner. Benner, who averages over 18 points per game was held to four points in the first half and finished the game with eight points on 3 of 12 shooting before fouling out late in the game.
The La Habra defenders pressured every St. Bonaventure possession as the Seraphs failed to make penetration and finish many of their shots. St. Bonaventure averaged over 65 points per game this season, and scored over 80 points six times, but was held to their lowest point title of the playoffs.
“Give credit to La Habra,” said St. Bonaventure Coach Wolfgang Wood, a 2012 graduate of Santa Margarita. “They made adjustments to our adjustments and took advantage of our weaknesses. I think we fell asleep on defensive assignments at times.”
From the start of the second quarter, the Highlanders took control. Grayson Sinek and Sebastian Esparza started to heat up from the field. Esparza nailed back-to back 3-pointers and Anderson added a bucket as the Highlanders built a double digit lead. La Habra outscored the Seraphs 18-8 in the quarter to take a 37-24 halftime lead.
La Habra shot 59 percent in the opening half and forced six St. Bonaventure turnovers. The Seraphs shot well in the first half (47 percent) but couldn’t close the gap.
“The guys were loose and we reminded them that the key to this game is a strong defense; that fuels our offense,” said Riekenberg.
In the third quarter, the Highlanders, behind outstanding play of Jimenez and Anderson, continued with its hounding defense and led 52-36 after three quarters.
Once again, the Seraphs didn’t score baskets on consecutive possessions in the quarter. In the final eight minutes, the Highlanders never let up and kept applying pressure and cruised to the victory. Anderson scored 14 points in the final quarter (and scored 19 of his 22 points in the second half) to seal the win and the championship to the delight of the large La Habra crowd.
Sinek scored 11 points and had six rebounds and Esparza added 10 points for La Habra, who shot 51 percent from the field and 44 percent from 3-point land. The Highlanders forced 14 turnovers and committed only five miscues. La Habra scored 20 points off a St. Bonaventure turnovers.
“We played lock down defense throughout the game and that was the difference,” said Esparza.
Mathew Wilson led St. Bonaventure with 13 points. The Seraphs made only 4 of 18 3-point shots (22 percent).
La Habra athletic director Paul Caffrey had high praise for Riekenberg and his staff.
“Nobody deserves the championship more than Aaron and his staff,” said Caffrey, who is in his second year as athletic director. “He and his staff put in so much time and it couldn’t have happened to a better group of guys.”
The Highlanders defeated Yorba Linda, Jordan, Sage Hill and Hesperia to reach the finals while St. Bonaventure beat Inglewood, Bonita, Valley View and Serra in the playoffs. Both teams will also advance to the CIF Southern California regionals beginning Tuesday.
—Tom Connolly, For OC Sports Zone
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