Redondo Union to play for state championship in boys basketball
Redondo Union’s boys basketball team defeated top-seeded J.W. North 60-48 to win the CIF State Southern California Division II championship Saturday. The Sea Hawks will play Northern California champion College Park for the state title on Saturday. Photo
Living by the credo “Defense wins championships,” Redondo Union’s boys basketball team reached the state title game after its 60-48 victory over top-seeded J.W. North of Riverside in the CIF State Southern California Division II championship Saturday at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario.
The Sea Hawks will take a 20-game winning streak to Sacramento Saturday when they face Northern California champion College Park of Pleasant Hill in a 4 p.m. game at Sleep Train Arena.
Freshman Leland Green scored eight points to help Redondo win its 20th consecutive game. Photo
Redondo (27-8) was the second seed in the Southern California Regional while College Park (26-5) was the 11th seed in the north, upsetting top-seeded Dublin 93-90 in overtime Saturday.
Guards Derek Biale and Ian Fox once again led Redondo to victory, scoring all 15 of the Sea Hawk’s points in the first quarter.
Biale finished with a team-high 15 points and Fox added 10 points, eight assists and two steals. Chris Henderson recorded 12 points, Leland Green scored eight points, Darrien Touchstone had seven points and six rebounds and Jeremiah Headley scored six points, had six rebounds and three steals for the Sea Hawks.
Redondo’s tenacious defense forced 23 turnovers in the win which sends head coach Reggie Morris Jr. to the state championship game in only his first year at the helm of the Sea Hawk program. Morris led St. Bernard to the CIF State Division V championship game in 2011 before turning around a Redondo team that went 10-17 and finished fifth in the Bay League in 2012
“Reaching the state final of any year is an awesome achievement,” Morris said. “It is playing for the ultimate prize. But being that it is my first year at such an esteemed program, following two great coaches such as Tom Maier and Jim Nielsen, I’m just glad I could add to the legacy of Redondo basketball.
“Winning the Southern California Regional is a tremendous achievement but there would be nothing more special than to win one more game with this great group of young men.”
College Park is led by senior captain Mikey Eggleton, who is averaging 12.6 points per game and sophomore forward Joe DeMers (11.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per game).
Time Warner Cable will stream all Championship games live online and PlayOn! Sports will provide live internet audio coverage of all 12 games. Visit www.cifstate.org for the links to the coverage.