GARDEN GROVE — The Tustin boys basketball team lost a 19-point, second-half lead but regrouped in the fourth quarter, and Brady Kong drilled a go-ahead 3-pointer to give the Tillers a 40-38 win over Sunny Hills in the semifinals of the Euclid Extravaganza on Friday night at Garden Grove High.
“They’re teenage, young men, they get a little complacent and they think it’s going to be easy in the second half,” Tustin coach Ringo Bossenmeyer said of his players. “We were playing a team coached by Coach (Joe) Ok. You know it’s not going to go like that for another 16 minutes.”
“We knew that going in (the game) as a coaching staff and I think the players understood that, but subconsciously you can let your foot off the gas.” Bossenmeyer continued.
The Tillers will face Newport Harbor in the Euclid Extravaganza final Saturday at 6 p.m. at Garden Grove High. The Sailors defeated Warren 57-43 in the other semifinal.
Sophomore Taven Epps had a team-high 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds for Tustin before fouling out in the final moments of the game.
Epps committed a loose ball foul with 13 seconds left in the game and Sunny Hills called a timeout to set up its final play.
Lancers forward ZeBrien Watkins got the final look, a midrange turnaround jumper that fell just short of the basket, which was defended well by Yuri Kline.
“It was somewhat clean but I think Z (Watkins) wishes he had that one back,” Ok said. “I don’t think he got a full shot off, it was a little bit short-armed.”
“They have some guys who are tough covers, and our team defense has to be what holds up on and that’s what it did tonight,” Bossenmeyer said.
The Tillers (8-1) were down 8-4 in the first quarter before they went on a 13-2 scoring binge to end the quarter with a 17-10 lead.
Ethan Contreras scored five points during the run and Daniel Molina and Long each hit a 3-pointer and Epps added a basket.
Tustin dominated the boards in the second quarter. It also suffocated the Lancers with superb defense and went on to outscore Sunny Hills 11-1.
“With the size and physicality that they bring, we were a little bit shell-shocked, a little bit flustered in the first half,” Ok said.
Once the second half began the Lancers started to gain confidence with a few makes while the Tillers got into some foul trouble.
“We got used to the game and calmed down a bit,” Ok said. “We were able to execute and get back in the game. When you start making a couple of shots and guys start feeling confident, the momentum shift happens.”
Epps made a pair of free throws to give Tustin a 30-11 lead, and then the Sunny Hills comeback began.
Immanuel Lin hit a 3-pointer and Nathan Johnson made a lay-up. Raeden Bobadilla hit another 3 for the Lancers and Kamron Tonga began to make his presence felt in the paint, scoring five points during the run.
Tonga’s last bucket of the third quarter was assisted by Watkins and then after a quick turnover by Tustin, Watkins called for the ball again and he nailed a 3-pointer as time expired in the quarter.
Sunny Hills (6-4) scored 20 points in the third to take a 31-30 advantage heading to the fourth.
“When we took the lead, it was almost like, wow, but we knew it’s not done,” Ok said. “It felt great to get back in it.”
Watkins was the only Lancer to score in the final quarter, as his 3-pointer gave Sunny Hills a brief lead, 38-37, before Wong’s heroic shot.
Kline scored four crucial points in the fourth after sitting for most of the third quarter with foul trouble.
Bossenmeyer has been impressed by the contribution of multi-sport athletes Epps and Brannan Hampton, who both come from the football team that went 9-2 overall this season and won the Delta League title.
“I haven’t seen them since July. Basically, they come out for four or five practices and they’re playing major, major minutes,” Bossenmeyer said. “The one thing you can say is they’re getting in basketball shape very quickly.”
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