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Boys’ basketball: Ako Kaluna and West Ranch show they belong

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This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

If no one has ever heard of 6-foot-8 Ako Kaluna of Valencia West Ranch, they will know about him now after his performance on Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the Santa Monica tournament.

The 268-pound senior who signed with Northern Arizona shattered a glass backboard in the first quarter against Alemany with a dunk after a foul had been called. That forced an hour delay and move of the game to Santa Monica’s second gym.

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Kaluna continued to make his presence felt, finishing with 23 points and 21 rebounds as West Ranch (3-0) knocked off defending state Division III champion Alemany, 69-61.

Kevin Harris had 20 points and Ryan Beddeo added 13 for a team that now owns win over two top Mission League schools in the Warriors and Crespi. Brandon Boyd scored 17 points and Bennie Boatwright 16 for Alemany (1-1).

West Ranch is known for its relentless energy, and Kaluna played the entire game.

‘I could have kept going,’ he said. ‘It’s a huge win. It shows how good we are right now.’

As for the shattered glass backboard, it was the third time he has broken a rim.

‘I didn’t mean to cause that much trouble,’ he said. ‘It gave my team an energy boost. It gave me a boost.’

Here’s the link to Youtube footage of the actual dunk.

-- Eric Sondheimer

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