This time, it wasn’t a runaway win for the Suns boys basketball team.
This time, the Suns trailed for nearly three quarters of the game.
But once again, the second-seeded Suns finished strong in the fourth quarter and pulled out a win at home – this time, it was a 58-53 victory over No. 7 Desert High.
Now, the Suns host No. 6 Fowler Friday night in the California Interscholastic Federation’s Division 6 semifinals. The winner advances to face either top seeded Taft or No. 5 Chowchilla in the finals on Feb. 28 at Fresno’s Selland Arena.
Del Oro’s playoff run started on Saturday with a dominating 92-71 win over No. 15 seed Riverdale. Against Riverdale, the Suns never trailed or let the game get close. That wasn’t the case Wednesday against Desert. After opening the game with a 4-0 lead, the Suns steadily found themselves trailing by as much as 11 points up until late in the third quarter when they tied the score at 40-40.
“We understood that we worked too hard to lose,” senior Gabriel Bocardo said of the team attitude at halftime. “It’s knowing that if we didn’t get it together and work hard, no one would do it for us.”
In the fourth quarter, the Suns finally regained the lead on the strength of Bocardo’s perimeter shooting, a key block by junior Ernest Jones IV, and a smothering defense that forced the Scorpions to turn the ball over with less than two minutes remaining in the game.
“I wasn’t really worried in the fourth quarter because our offensive players always show up,” Jones said. “I knew we were going to come back and win. I had confidence in my team because whenever we’re in a sticky situation, we always get out of it – some way, some how.”
Jones gave credit to the team’s coaches – Head Coach Mike Cardenas and assistant coaches Rick Pablo and Orlando Morales.
“Even though we’re down, we can still come back up,” Jones said. “It’s not over until the buzzer goes off.”
The win propels Del Oro to a 21-8 overall record (7-1 in the South Yosemite Horizon League). The Suns are now 9-0 at home.