El Dorado’s Ryan Northcott cuts down the rim as his teammates celebrate the win and league title. (PHOTOS: Tom Connolly, For OC Sports Zone).
Elias Rodarte scored 21 points and Noah Barker added 14 points to lead El Dorado to a convincing 74-41 victory over Yorba Linda in a Freeway League basketball game Tuesday night at El Dorado.
The Golden Hawks (25-3, 7-1) used an explosive second half and set a school record for single-season number of wins with 25, clinching the league title for the second time in three years.
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“We won the league title in my sophomore year, but this title is so much better,” said Rodarte, who drilled three 3-pointers and led El Dorado’s offense to a 43-19 second half advantage. “Our defense really stepped up. We wanted to slow Jake Waters down and make him make tough shots. We just kept pushing.”
Yorba Linda led after the opening quarter 17-14, tied the score at 23-23 following Zen Bhayani’s basket with 3:48 to go in the first half. However, El Dorado, spurred by four consecutive baskets by Barker, Jack Boettner, Noah Querubin, and Rodarte went on an 8-0 run down the stretch and built a 31-23 halftime lead.
The Golden Hawks picked up where they left off to start the third quarter as they raced out to a 10-0 run, sparked by a pair of 3-pointers by Brandon Kim and Rodarte. Rodarte’s 3-pointer at the 4:17 mark of the quarter upped El Dorado’s lead to 41-23.
“I think we took the wind out of them with our run at the end of the first half and our run to begin the third quarter,” Rodarte added.
The Golden Hawks finished the quarter strong and outscored the Mustangs 23-6 in the period to take a commanding 54-29 lead after three quarters and cruised to the victory.
El Dorado got strong performances from Boettner, Ryan Northcott and the Golden Hawks bench as they held a large advantage on the boards and their aggressive defense overpowered Yorba Linda (10-17, 2-6).
“We started slow but heated up and played very aggressively,” said Boettner, who scored eight points and was a force throughout the game on the boards. “It’s a great win and we’re getting ready for the playoffs.”
Barker said his team upped the pace in the second half.
“We did start out slow, but we picked up momentum with our run at the end of the first half and then after halftime our energy soared and we had the we can do it attitude,” said Barker.”
Golden Hawks Coach Ryan Mounce said breaking a school record for most wins in a single season is special and he gave props to his assistant coaches.
“We have won 25 games so far this season and we’re 46-11 over the past two seasons,” said Mounce, who is in his 25th year as head coach of El Dorado. “I have excellent assistant coaches. I think they’re the best in Orange County. They get these guys ready to play. I think my assistant coach Kevin Sweet, and I are the longest running duo in the Orange County. We’ve been together coaching for 25 years. Kevin could be a head coach if he wanted to be.”
Mustangs Coach Jason Pietsch said his team improved overall.
“At midseason we started to play really well,” said Pietsch. “We lost several tough games by less than six points. I think if we make a few shots here and there, we have a different outcome to the season. But we had improvement and I saw growth.”
Waters led Yorba Linda with eight points.
Notes:
—El Dorado senior guard Evan Kim did not play after suffering a knee injury in practice this week. Mounce said it’s not known when he will be ready to play. Kim is averaging 11.5 points per game this season.
—The Golden Hawks narrowly escaped beating Yorba Linda 61-59 on Jan. 16. “We had two shots at the end of the game to win it, but we missed both of them and we lost a close one,” said Pietsch.
—-El Dorado has won 10 of its last 11 games.
—Sonora ended in second place in league behind El Dorado and Villa Park took third place.
—The CIF playoff playoff pairings will be announced Saturday.
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