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Irvine Coach Harry Meussner talks to his team during a CIF playoff game. (Photo courtesy Mark Bausman, For OC Sports Zone).
Irvine High School’s boys basketball team continues its quest to bring home the first CIF title for the program Friday night, Feb. 21 when it meets St. Bonaventure in the semifinal round of the 2A playoffs at Ventura High School.
Irvine (29-2) brings a 22-game winning streak into the game. St. Bonaventure (25-6) advanced into the semifinals with a 71-65 victory over Villa Park Tuesday.
The winner moves on to the finals next weekend at a location to be announced against the winner of the Oak Park vs. Canyon CC semifinal.
Irvine is trying to reach the CIF finals for the second time in school history. The Vaqueros, coached by Steve Keith, lost in 1989 to Capistrano Valley 76-49 in the CIF 5A title game.
The 29 wins could be a school record.
“I am not sure if this is a record for wins, but I imagine it is safe to say we are one of the best teams in Irvine boys basketball history,” said Coach Harry Meussner.
Irvine is led by senior forward Cooper Stearns who is averaging 20 points, 12.8 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.7 steals a game. He moved into the 1,000-point and 1,000-rebound career mark this season.
“Cooper is about 100 points from 2,000 career points. We may not have enough games left, but it is quite the accomplishment even if he falls shy of it,” Meussner said.
The Vaqueros have plenty of respect for St. Bonaventure.
“St. Bonaventure is a well coached team that is led by two talented guards and they work as a team to apply pressure on both ends,” Meussner said. “We have been playing our best basketball in February and we aim to continue playing our brand of basketball on the road. It will be a battle.”
By virtue of Tuesday’s playoff victory, Irvine also qualified for the CIF Regional tournament which begins the week after the CIF finals.
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com