Boys Basketball:
For the first time in nearly two decades, the Pasadena High School boys basketball program did not win a Pacific League championship.
To be fair to PHS coach Tony Brooks and his players, there was no room for error after the 14-game league schedule was cut in half, and COVID-19 has been an Achilles heel for the Bulldogs.
PHS did finish strong on Friday night.
The Bulldogs jumped to a 15-point lead at the half and cruised to a 57-38 victory at Muir.
Pasadena earned the league’s second seed.
Ethan Patterson scored a team-high 13 points for PHS, and that included three 3-point baskets.
Fidel Cabrera chipped in with 11 points and Ryan Poole had seven points in the win.
Muir’s Devin Hardy had a game-best 14 points.
Troy Kirk and Saadiq Moore contributed seven points apiece for the Mustangs.
In a true sign of class, I asked PHS coach Tony Brooks about his thoughts on the near two-decade Pacific League championship run coming to an end.
Instead of complaining about this or that, Brooks went out of his way to congratulate CV coach Shawn Zagarian and the Falcons players.
Both PHS and Muir will have to wait nine days until CIF releases the playoff brackets.
Quotable:
Pasadena coach, Tony Brooks: “It was good to get back to having a near full team as opposed to playing with six or seven guys. I’m so proud of this team and the way they refocused themselves this week. The pandemic has nearly stopped our season cold. It has been incredibly difficult to overcome its effects, but we have managed to pick things up where we left off in December. Tonight was not an easy game to play. There is so much emotion playing against guys you’re familiar with, and we managed to play with a lot of poise and with an emphasis on the team.
As far as not winning league this year, there is nothing to be ashamed of in finishing second. Only playing one round really makes for a narrow road to the championship. We felt even after we lost at CV by just a few points that we would see them again to climb back to first place. But with missing integral players for such a long time and having to play fully stocked teams with seven players, and a league season cut in half, our championship door shut pretty quickly. That’s ok. It doesn’t lessen my pride for my guys. They have worked so hard this season. Congratulations to Shawn Zagarian and his championship team. It is well deserved. We will be back next year competing for another championship. That’s for sure. Now our focus turns to improving and being at our best for the playoffs.”
Box Score:
P: 15-16-11-15-(57)
M: 8-8-14-8-(38)
PHS scoring: Ethan Patterson 13, Fidel Cabrera 11, Ryan Poole 7, Teddy Reyes 6, Casey Barrett 6, Drew Brown 6, Jason Guyton 4, Desmond Every 2, Demille Brown 2
Muir scoring: Devin Hardy 14, Troy Kirk 7, Saadiq Moore 7, Jenkins Jiaah 6, Brandon Hardy 4,
Records: Pasadena (11-9, 5-2); Muir (7-12, 4-2)
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