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Portola High School senior guard Brady Kim. (Photo courtesy Miles Song).
Portola High School senior guard Brady Kim was determined to help his team get a victory in the Rumble on the Hill Tournament Wednesday night at Sunny Hills.
He did that, leading Portola to an 88-81 win over Mission Viejo and in the process set a Portola single game scoring record with 52 points, according to Bulldogs coach Brian Smith.
“He’s the first player in Portola history to have 50 points in a game and in my coaching career, I’ve never had a kid hit 50,” Smith said after the game. “He’s a special player and I’m so happy for him. He lives and breathes basketball and it paid off tonight.”
Smith said that either Colin Huang or Robert Giraldy held the previous highs for Portola, which began fielding a varsity team in 2018.
Kim made 12 two-pointers, connected on 8 of 13 from 3-point range and made 4 of 5 free throws. He also had about eight to 10 rebounds, Smith said.
“I was feeling it right from the jump but I was really more focused on getting that win especially after the tough loss we had against Glendora last night,” Kim said in a telephone interview. “We really needed to go into a one day break tomorrow with a positive record.”
The 6-0 Kim said he wasn’t sure how many points he had but he “knew I was getting up there in that range.”
The guard’s previous best was 36 points in a game against University in a Pacific Coast League game last season.
Kim, who is now in his third year playing with the varsity, said he had extra motivation in the game.
“I was specifically playing for my dad because he has sacrificed a lot for me so I wanted to appreciate what he’s done for me,” he said.
His father, the scorekeeper for the team, was in attendance and among those congratulating Kim and other players who helped the Bulldogs improve their record to 2-1.
“I was flooded with emotions and my teammates were crowding me, it was a great experience,” Kim said. “It was something I will never forget.”
As for setting the record:
“It’s a great feeling honestly, I feel that all the work I put in since the end of last season is starting to pay off and I’m excited for what the rest of the season has for this team,” he said.
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
