Boys’ basketball: It’s a celebration of guards at Pacific Hills
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The Pacific Hills guard trio of Marcus Jackson, Namon Wright and Jahmel Taylor ended their year-long collaboration with a vintage performance, combining to score all but four points in the Bruins’ 58-52 CIF state championship Division IV victory over Santa Rosa Cardinal Newman.
The Rice-bound Jackson scored 23 points. The Washington-bound Taylor scored 14 points. And Wright, a junior, had 17 points. They took charge with four minutes left and the Bruins down by one, helping apply defensive pressure that resulted in turnovers and points.
“We were very talented at the guard position, but they couldn’t have done it by themselves,” Coach Ivan Barahona said. “It had to be a group effort.”
And it was. Jonathon Mills contributed four points, five rebounds and lots of screens. Adam Plax played nearly 25 minutes and went scoreless but played defense and had more screens.
“They listened. They understood they couldn’t just play one-on-one basketball,” Barahona said.
Washington Coach Lorenzo Romar was on hand to watch Taylor, who transferred from Sierra Canyon and set the stage for a season that ended with a 29-4 record and wins in succession over powers La Verne Lutheran, Gardena Serra, Bishop Montgomery and Cardinal Newman (32-4).
-- Eric Sondheimer