By Matt Schuler
(La Verne) – San Marcos was hot early, but Bonita caught fire when it counted and rolled to a 60-46 victory Friday night and advance to the quarterfinals of the CIF Division 3A playoffs.
In front of their home crowd, the Bearcats pulled off one of their best wins this season after erasing an eight point half time deficit to defeat the Matadors.
The win gives the Hacienda League champs a 26-3 overall record and a quarterfinal match up with Damien (25-3), who took care of business against Woodbridge, 54-37, to advance.
“I kept thinking if we shoot this bad in the second half we don’t have much of a chance,” said Bonita coach Greg Eckler.
With the Bearcats trailing 29-17, Garrett Horine scored on two consecutive put backs with less than a minute to play in the second quarter, including one at the buzzer to cut the lead to single digits (29-21) going into halftime.
“We got great looks in the first half but couldn’t make shots,” Eckler said. “What I was disappointed in is usually what we rely on is our defense to keep it close. But we gave up I think 28 or 29 in the first half, which is just not us.”
Horine finished with 11 points and five rebounds, and did all his damage in the paint. James Northup added 13 points, four assist, and two steals.
Jordan Butler, also known as J.B, came alive in the second half. Butler led all scorers with 16 points, scoring 12 from beyond the arc, including two key 3-point buckets to help maintain a lead late in the game.
“I knew (my shots) would finally hit and I’m just going to keep shooting,” said Butler in reference to his slow start. “We weren’t worried, we just knew we had to play some defense.”
After the halftime break, Bonita came out and put together a 12-2 stretch to start the third and take a 33-31 lead, prompting San Marcos coach Jarrod Bradley to take a timeout three minutes in. The Bearcats outscored the Royals in the third quarter 21-10 and the score going into the fourth was 42-39, Bonita.
The Bearcats also got a nice surprise from Shaiyan Karim, who scored 10 points off the bench to give Bonita four players in double figures.
With 4:12 remaining in the fourth quarter, Northup rose up for a jump shot from the free throw line and splashed the net to give Bonita a 53-44 advantage. Northup then found Butler open from the right wing for a three and J.B. nailed it to open up a 12 point lead and secure the come from behind victory.
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