IRVINE — You could feel it coming. You knew that Sidd Raj was due. Fourth quarter. Beckman trying to hold off a scrappy El Toro comeback. Up by two points with 3 minutes 57 seconds remaining. Still anybody’s game.
Raj took a pass from a teammate, sidestepped a defender and buried a 3-point basket that felt like a dagger. Thirty-eight seconds later, Raj twisted that dagger with another 3-pointer from the wing, five feet to the left of the first one.
The lead was eight points and, for all intents and purposes, Beckman was out of the woods in a 62-58 victory over El Toro.
With its second win of the season over the Chargers, Beckman (13-13 overall) pulled even with El Toro (15-12) for third place in the Sea View League with 3-4 league records.
Raj finished with 20 points, as did teammate Qusai Azem.
“He’s the best 3-point shooter I’ve ever coached,” said Beckman coach Rusty Van Cleave, who’s been at it more than two decades and watched his best shooter make a school-record nine earlier this season.
Raj looked like he might be headed into record book territory early on. He had two 3s in the first 2 1 / 2 minutes of the game as Beckman built a 14-12 first-quarter lead. He added two more in the second quarter as the lead grew to 32-26.
But then, nothing. He had 14 points at halftime but scored nothing in the third quarter.
El Toro, which had trailed by as much as 36-26, pulled to within 46-44 at the close of the quarter behind Cristien Jimenez and Lydorean Smith.
It was anybody’s game at that point. Raj had missed five in a row – including three 3-point attempts – and gone 11 1 / 2 minutes without a point when he struck the big blows in the fourth.
His first made it 53-48, and the second 56-48. After the massive comeback, El Toro was facing a massive climb once more and it was just too much.
“The momentum changed a little bit, but it didn’t change us,” said Jimenez – who scored a game-high 23, including 11 of 13 from the free throw line — of Raj’s big buckets. “We just couldn’t (get over the top).”
Lydorean Smith had a big bounce back from the first meeting between the teams. The Chargers guard had injured his arm when his teammates threw him in the air for a pep rally before the game but failed to catch him; he was held scoreless in a 48-40 loss in which Beckman overcame an 11- point deficit in the fourth quarter.
Smith scored 14 points on Friday and breathed life into the Chargers’ comeback.
The Chargers led 8-3 and 9-8, but didn’t lead after the first quarter. They pulled to 48-48 with 6:48 remaining, but Qusai Azem scored on a drive to the basket about a minute later and then Raj delivered his magic.
Jimenez made a 3-point basket with 24 seconds left to pull to 62-58.
“El Toro battled hard,” Van Cleave said. “Their effort level was tremendous.”
When Raj was merely mortal in the third quarter, Azem carried the Patriots. He scored 9 of his 20 in the period, which was just enough to set the stage for the finish.
“I have the utmost confidence in all of my teammates,” Raj said. “If it’s not me taking the shot, I want it to be him.”
“Other than Sidd, the rest of the team doesn’t have playoff experience in their bag, so it’s important to get a win like this,” Van Cleave said. “It’s important to win a couple of games going into the playoffs. When it’s going well, we’re pretty good.”
The game was doubly sweet for the Patriots, who won on Senior Night. Van Cleave tinkered with the lineup and his rotations, but even those seniors who don’t typically play as much held their own.
Beckman finishes the regular season Tuesday at Mission Viejo (2-5 in league). El Toro plays host to first-place Capistrano Valley (5-2) on Monday. Aliso Niguel (5-3) is in second place.
“We missed some layups we normally make and we missed a few free throws,,” El Toro coach Nick Sainato said. The Chargers 13 of 21 free throws. “At the end of the day, we didn’t beat ourselves, they beat us. They beat us fair and square. I think that’s pretty obvious.
“In high school, 3-pointers are like bombs. They’re like missiles. (Raj) was tough to guard.”
Raj finished with 6 3-pointers. A good night, but not one for the record books. Unless you’re only counting wins and losses – which is the only record that matters now.