PHOTOS: Laguna Hills gets past Woodbridge and earns CIF playoff spot as five teams wind up tied for 2nd place

Dominic Bolton of Laguna Hills is guarded by Trey Long (No. 2) and Ethan Fu of Woodbridge Saturday. (Photos: OC Sports Zone, Tim Burt).

Laguna Hills boys basketball team is headed to the CIF playoffs but the rest of the Pacific Coast League post-season picture is, to say the least, a bit complicated as a result of a five-way tie for second place on the final day of the extended regular season.

The Hawks, inspired by a large turnout of fans on the road, secured second place with a 54-48 victory over Woodbridge in a makeup game Saturday at Woodbridge. The players got a big round of applause from Hawks fans as they emerged from the locker-room.

“First time (in the playoffs) for these guys, obviously, Woodbridge was great,” said Laguna Hills Coach David Yates. “Woodbridge played with a lot of heart and a couple of injured guys stepped up and played. I give them all the credit in the world, but I’m excited for our guys.”

Yates said it’s the first winning season for Laguna Hills since Maxpreps started recording marks.

“Four years ago, I came in to do this and it took a lot of good coaches like Zack (Zaragoza) and some other guys (including Alex Ladd),” Yates said. “There has been so much support, our principal is fantastic to us, that’s why everybody is so happy. We’ve got some really good South County friends too.”

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Portola finished first and Laguna Hills, Woodbridge, Beckman, Northwood and University, who all had 6-6 records, finished in a five-way tie for second place. Four teams from the league are guaranteed CIF playoff berths. Portola got the top seed, Laguna Hills the second. Beckman secured the third spot by winning a coin flip, according to Patriots Coach John Goins.

Woodbridge and University will battle for the fourth automatic berth in a rare Sunday PCL playoff game Sunday at 4 p.m. at University. CIF officials allowed Sunday games to be held this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Northwood, with an 18-9 overall record, should be under strong consideration for a playoff berth.

The tie-breaker scenario was based on a mini-league of four teams and took into consideration the records of each squad against other teams, according to Mark Cunningham, Irvine Unified School District athletic director. All the athletic directors in the league were in agreement on the plan, Cunningham said.

If Woodbridge had defeated Laguna Hills, Northwood and University would have played for fourth place Saturday but instead it will be Woodbridge meeting University on Sunday.

Saturday’s contest at Woodbridge went down to the wire.

The Hawks (14-12) were led by freshman guard Dominic Bolton, who had 20 points and junior guard Michael Bichel, who had 14 points.

Both players had big free throws down the stretch.

Laguna Hills led 39-37 after three quarters but Woodbridge rallied and tied the game 48-48 on two free throws by Nygle Williams with about a minute left.

However, Bichel made four free throws in the final 30 seconds and Laguna Hills forced two Woodbridge turnovers. Bolton clinched the win with two free throws with 10.5 seconds remaining.

“They’re our primary guys but we had some other contributions as well,” Yates said. “Omari Smith hit a big three. Woodbridge did a great job taking them away. It could have gone either way and we got some bounces and some buckets, and I’m happy for the boys.

“I’m happy it worked out for us. Hopefully everyone gets in and gets the CIF experience.”

“Mike hit some clutch free throws down the stretch that really put us up over the top and we really came up clutch at the end,” Bolton added.

Woodbridge was led by Trey Long, who had 15 points and JC Schindler, who had eight points. The Warriors also welcomed back center center Nygle Williams, who had been out the past couple of weeks with a hand injury. Williams scored seven points and helped out defensively and on the boards,.

Ethan Fu also returned after an injury and scored three points.

Both Woodbridge (11-17) and University (11-15) need wins Sunday in order to finish in the top four of the league since neither squad has a .500 record, which is required of at-large teams.

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