Los Amigos boys’ basketball drops CIF opener to rival Santiago
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Los Amigos and Santiago have had countless meetings as longtime league combatants.
The rivals squared off for the third time in five weeks on Wednesday night, and while there was little left in their playbooks that the other hadn’t seen, it was a marquee game that made the difference for the visiting Cavaliers with their season on the line.
Senior forward Jerell Guidry supplied 10 points, 12 rebounds and six steals, as Santiago toppled host Los Amigos 45-42 in a rough-and-tumble first round matchup of the CIF Southern Section Division 4AA boys’ basketball playoffs.
“[Guidry] was outstanding today, and that was his best game of the year,” Santiago coach Matt Moorhouse said. “The first time we played Los Amigos, he did not play like that. He did not have those rebounds. The second time, he was a little better, and this time, he showed what he’s capable of. We’re not winning the game without Jerell.”
Santiago (18-11), which lost both games in Coast League play against Los Amigos (15-13), advances to play La Cañada Flintridge Prep (14-9) on Friday at home at 5 p.m.
In a game that did not feature a double-digit lead, Santiago used an 8-0 run to produce the biggest lead of the game. Senior guard Jorden De La Mora, who had a game-high 26 points to go with four steals, scored seven consecutive points in that stretch, including a three-pointer that stretched the Cavaliers’ advantage to 31-24 three minutes into the second half.
“He’s been our guy the whole year, and I knew he was eventually going to come out,” Moorhouse said. “It doesn’t matter if you box-and-one, it doesn’t matter if you just tag him. He’s going to get his points. He’s going to do his thing, and that’s what he’s done all year. No one’s been able to stop him.”
Los Amigos furnished its own 7-0 run to get right back in the contest. Junior guard Zion Rodgers finished through contact at the rim and then went coast to coast for a layup in transition. Rich Toledo’s three-point play on another fast break opportunity knotted the score at 31-31.
Tapasu Lapati scored all five of his points in the latter stages of the third quarter, helping Los Amigos take a 37-35 lead into the fourth quarter.
The offense dried up from there for the Lobos, who went scoreless during a critical six-minute juncture. Rodgers broke the drought with a mid-range jumper. After back-to-back empty trips to the free-throw line for Rodgers and Toledo, Philip Steinert found Rodgers for a three from the left wing to cut the deficit to 43-42 with 23 seconds left.
De La Mora made a pair of three throws, and when Rodgers kicked the ball out to Sales Connor with the clock winding down, the potential game-tying three-point attempt hit the back iron and stayed out.
“Unselfish, great group of kids,” Los Amigos coach DeAndre Ferguson said of his team. “They worked hard. I wouldn’t trade any of them. The kids are second to none. … They deserve more. … That’s life. This game teaches life.”
Los Amigos shared the Coast League championship with Savanna (18-8), and the Lobos have now won back-to-back league titles. Santiago was the third-place team in the league.
“From what I’ve seen from the time I’ve been here, they look like they look forward to it a lot,” Rodgers, a Lynwood Firebaugh transfer, said of the rivalry with Santiago. “Every game’s a battle. … Everybody, they just came to compete like it’s their last game, and I respect it.”
CIF Southern Section Division 4AA playoffs
Santiago 45, Los Amigos 42
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Santiago 8 - 15 - 12 - 10 — 45
Los Amigos 7 - 14 - 16 - 5 — 42
S — De La Mora 26, Guidry 10, Baude 7, Bracamonte 2.
3-pt. goals — De La Mora 2.
Fouled out — None.
Technicals — None.
LA — Rodgers 18, Toledo 9, Lapati 5, Belote 4, Connor 3, Steinert 3.
3-pt. goals — Rodgers 2, Lapati 1, Connor 1, Steinert 1, Toledo 1.
Fouled out — None.
Technicals — None.
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