Ethan Rodriguez of Segerstrom puts up a three-point shot as Jaguars wait for the ball to fall in. (Photos courtesy Mark Bausman, For OC Sports Zone).
Segerstrom’s boys basketball team is headed to the second round of the CIF Division 7 playoffs.
The Jaguars (19-9) host Rialto (13-14) Friday night at 7.
Segerstrom opened the playoffs at home Wednesday defeating Estancia 52-42.
To see the slide show, click on the first photo:
Angello Ramirez had a game-high 20 points to lead Segerstrom. Chris Gutierrez had 12 points and Elijah Harrizon added seven points.
Estancia (18-9) was led by Miles Dodge, who scored 15 points. Drew Romine and Lincoln Silva added eight points each.
“One thing I’ll promise or guarantee you, my boys will come out fighting,” Segerstrom Coach Rex Gonzales said Thursday. “And for sure we did that. The first few minutes we made a statement, we took a charge diving on the floor for a loose ball playing tough man to man defense.”
Gonzales said the Jaguars defensive goal was to stop one of the Eagles’ top players and held him to five points.
“Noah Martinez did a great job,” Gonzales said. “And we wanted to make everything difficult for {Romine} which Chris and Gabriel {Vergara} did.”
Gonzales also credited the Jaguars crowd for their support.
“Shout out to the student body, I need that and more this Friday,” he said. “The second half, Estancia went into a zone and made things a little difficult for us. And the third quarter I made a few adjustments. I had to figure out a way to get Gello more involved. Gello had 20 points in the game and 13 came in the second half.”
Before the game, Gonzales called on what he has learned from his mentor, former Tustin Coach Ringo Bossenmeyer.
“One thing I remembered during my conversations with Coach Boss. He said, ‘stick with what got you here.’ And what got me here is watching film on film and on top of more film. All the sleepless nights thinking about X’s and O’s prepared me mentally for a game like this,” Gonzales said.
The winner of Friday’s game moves on to the quarterfinals Tuesday against the winner of the Rosemead vs. Santa Rosa Academy winner.
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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