Sports

Boys Hoops: Spartans and Rebels Refocus for State Playoffs

LCHS faces Crespi, while Flintridge Prep takes on St. Bernard in second round action Thursday night.

The La Cañada boys basketball team reached the mountain top it had been scaling all season when the Spartans upset Price to claim the CIF-Southern Section Division 3AA title last Thursday, the school’s first such championship since 1992.

But they didn’t have a ton of time to celebrate. The day after their win over Price, they were back in the gym, getting ready for the state playoffs.

La Cañada earned the No. 1 seed in the CIF State Division 3 Southern California Regional and takes on Crespi on Thursday in the second round. As the top-seeded team, the Spartans had a first round bye and did not play Tuesday. 

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“The goal for La Cañada is a (CIF-SS) championship — to try to get to a championship again,” Spartans coach Tom Hofman said. “State is kind of icing on the cake; do the best we can.”

Hofman had his team practice so quickly after the championship game because he thought they would have to play Tuesday. And as you can imagine, getting a team to focus on a new challenge so soon after such a monumental win can be difficult.

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“It takes a little while (to refocus) — first practice was a little bit crazy,” Hofman said. “It’s been a good week. We’ve had some good practices. The kids are back on track where they need to be mentally.”

They’ll need to be on top of their game against Crespi, who went undefeated in the Mission League and lost in the semifinals of the CIF-SS Division 3A playoffs. Hofman said he sees some similarities between the Celts (25-6) and the Spartans.

“Pretty similar type teams,” Hofman said. “Good, balanced scoring, play very good defense, maybe a little more physical than we are.”

One of the players the Spartans (28-3) will count on to combat the Celts’ physical play will be senior forward Matt Faber.

Faber had 14 points and 10 rebounds in the Spartans win over Price, and he has averaged 15.6 points and 13.6 boards per game in the playoffs.

“He’s been the rock. He gets double digit rebounds in every single game against everybody. He’s one of the best athletes I’ve ever coached,” Hofman said. “He has just a good nose for the ball. He has exceptional quickness, and then he jumps well. And he’s tough — he’s physically just a tougher kid this year.”

Rebels face St. Bernard in Round 2

There’ll be a good amount of familiarity between Flintridge Prep and St. Bernard when the two sides take the court in the second round of the CIF State Division 5 Southern California Regional on Thursday at 7 p.m. at St. Francis High School.

But that familiarity isn’t just limited to basketball. The Rebels and Vikings are also well versed in each other’s breakfast habits.

During December’s ESPN iScore Holiday Classic in San Diego, Flintridge Prep and St. Bernard stayed at the same hotel and ate breakfast together a few times.

The Rebels (24-6) and Vikings were on opposite sides of the tournament’s bracket, so they didn’t see each other on the court, but Flintridge Prep coach Garrett Ohara knows the challenge his team faces in St. Bernard.

“They’re one of the top teams in the state,” Ohara said. “They’re an athletic team, they’ve got decent size and they’ve got high-scoring guards.”

The Vikings are led by sophomore wingman Brandon Randolph, who averages 19.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.

St. Bernard, who lost in the semifinals of the CIF-SS Division 5A playoffs, cruised past Redlands Adventist Academy in the first round of the state playoffs, 78-37.

The second-seeded Rebels had an equally easy time in their opening game, squashing Tranquillity by a score of 98-32. After the game, the Tranquillity team posed for pictures with Rebels star center Kenyatta Smith.

“That was interesting wasn’t it,” Ohara said. “He enjoyed it. He felt flattered and everything. That reveals a little bit about (Tranquillity’s) mindset. They just admired him as a player, and they knew about him going on to play (at Harvard).”

Against St. Bernard, it’s about to get a lot tougher for the Rebels.

“We know that it’s going to be a lot more challenging. I think when things are tougher we enjoy them that much (more),” Ohara said.

“We feel that we have an ability to become a state champion, so we want to give it a best shot. … We’re still hungry.”


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