Strong defense lifts Beckman past Mission Viejo in key Sea View League game

Beckman was led Friday by (from left) Qusai Azem, Bronson Mejia and Joshua Charette in the victory over Mission Viejo. (PHOTOS: Tom Connolly, For OC Sports Zone).

Three Beckman High players scored in double figures, but it took a defensive surge and several key baskets down the stretch to fend off a stubborn Mission Viejo squad in a key Sea View League boys basketball game at Beckman Friday night.

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Joshua Charette scored 18 points to lead Beckman. Teammates Qusai Azem (14 points) and Bronson Mejia (12 points) also contributed to help the Patriots defeat the Diablos 68-64.

The Patriots (14-10, 3-1) won for the fifth time in their last six games and stayed close to league-leading Aliso Niguel, which was idle Friday night.

Mission Viejo sophomore guard Aiyan Mahallati drilled a 3-pointer with 1:08 to play trimming the Beckman lead to 63-61. Charette then came up clutch down the stretch as he added a basket and two free throws to give the Patriots a 67-61 lead with under 20 seconds to play.

Beckman’s tenacious rebounding and aggressive defense denied the Diablos on two of their final three possessions to close out the win.

“We kept calm and kept executing and playing aggressive defense,” said Charette. “Our coach kept preaching, ‘don’t worry about the last play, next play, next play’ and that’s what we did. We focused on the next play.”

“By winning, we go to 3-1 in league and one of our goals is to win the league title,” added Mejia. “We got good looks, made key shots and played strong down the stretch.”

Beckman jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead to start the game, but Mission Viejo responded as Damian Navarro scored seven points and Hudson Dunlap added two 3-pointers to cut the Beckman lead to 18-14 after the first quarter.

Sawyer Thomson gave the Diablos a spark. The JSerra transfer scored six points in the final three minutes of the half to keep the game tight. Beckman led 30-27 at the break. 

Mission Viejo took its first lead of the game, at 31-30, early in the third quarter, following a bucket by Narvarro.

However, Mejia, Charette, and Azem led an 8-0 run that propelled the Patriots back into a 38-31 lead at the 4:44 mark of the quarter after a basket by Charette. Azem, who was a force at both ends of the floor throughout the game converted two free throws in the final seconds of the quarter to give Beckman a 50-44 lead after three periods.

“I think they had between 15 and 20 offensive rebounds,” said Mission Viejo Coach Keith Herbold. “Our bigs got in foul trouble and they hurt us on the boards.”

Diablos center JD Hill got into early foul trouble and sat most of the first half. He played the second half and scored nine points, but Mission Viejo missed his presence in the middle in the early going.

Azem continued to bang the boards and get to the foul line. His free throw gave the Patriots its biggest lead of the game at 55-44 with 6:43 to play.

However, the Diablos would not fold. Mission Viejo applied defensive pressure and forced four turnovers and ignited a 17-8 Mission Viejo run. Hill, Thomson, and Navarro rallied the Diablos and Mahallati’s 3-pointer cut the lead to 63-61 with 1:08 to play. But the Patriots held off the Mision Viejo late rally.

“Our rebounding was better, and our defense was stronger late in the game,” said Mejia.

Beckman Coach Rusty Van Cleave said his defense was the key.  

“We haven’t played a complete game yet this season, but our defense has been consistently strong and tonight we played solid defense,” said Van Cleave. “We were mentally tough down the stretch.”

Thomson led all scorers with 20 points, including scoring eight points in the final quarter. Navarro added 16 points, and Dunlap scored 12 points for the Diablos (12-10, 0-3).

“We needed more effort, and we needed to rebound and box out better,” said Thomson. “They wanted it more than us and they got better position in the paint and that was the difference.”

“We have to go back and start to do the simple things,” said Herbold, whose team has dropped five of their last six games. “We have to rebound better and start making our free throws.”

NOTES:

—Mission Viejo senior center JD Hill missed the last five games because he was playing in an All-American high school football game in San Antonio. The 6-3, 271-pound Hill will be playing defensive end next season at the University of Washington.

“It was a great experience to play in the Alamo Dome with guys from all over the country,” said Hill, who also considered playing for West Virginia and ASU. “I really liked Washington’s coach Jedd Fisch, and he is the reason I’m going to Washington. If I work hard, I think I can play into the rotation next season. Our team lost but I felt like I played a strong game.”

Hill’s Mission Viejo football teammate, Jeron Jones, a defensive back, also played in the All-American game at San Antonio.

—Diablos senior forward Jeremy Gonzalez missed his second consecutive game with the flu.

—Play was stopped at 4:53 of the opening quarter when the fire alarms went off inside the Beckman gymnasium. It delayed the game briefly until the alarms were turned off. An evaluation was not required and play resumed.  

—Beckman senior forward Arnav Sethi apparently is a Patriot fan favorite. Sethi pulled down a rebound and scored a basket to give the Patriots 20-16 lead at the 7:18 mark of second quarter. The Beckman crowd went wild and each time Sethi touched the ball thereafter, the crowd erupted.  

—Van Cleave said, “To compete for a league championship we feel we must win our home league games. We lost a tough one to Aliso on the road, but we feel if keep playing strong defense and our offense continues to get better, we like our chances for a league title.”