LONG BEACH –– For the second consecutive season, the Cabrillo boys basketball season ended in the CIF Southern Section quarterfinals.
After a furious fourth-quarter comeback effort, the Jaguars dropped a 71-66 decision to visiting Irvine in the Division 2A playoffs Tuesday night.
Irvine (29-2) advances to the semifinals and will be on the road Friday against St. Bonaventure.
Cabrillo (19-12) struggled to stop an Irvine attack led by senior center Cooper Stearns, who had a triple-double — 25 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists.
Cabrillo’s Aden Jones led all scorers with 34 points while adding four rebounds and a steal.
Stearns took advantage of his 1-on-1 mismatches.
“Today there was no double coming,” Stearns said. “I haven’t had the luxury to be 1-on-1 down low. And I’m a senior, I’ve been playing varsity for four years, I know I can get my own down there.”
Irvine senior center Cooper Stearns had a triple-double — 25 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists — in his team’s victory over Cabrillo 71-66 in the CIF-SS Division 2A quarterfinals Tuesday, Feb. 18. (Photo by Anthony Ciardelli)Cabrillo coach Chris Spencer complimented Stearns’ game.
“First off, that Irvine team is great. Cooper (Stearns), I wish him all the luck,” Spencer said. “I know he’s going to Stanford for golf, but he could have easily gone for basketball. He’s a phenomenal player. We thought we would slow him down and he made it really tough for us. Ultimately, he made enough plays for his team to win.”
Irvine gained an early lead thanks to Stearns’ eight first-quarter points. Jones helped Cabrillo get back into the game with six straight points to draw the Jaguars within three, 14-11.
Irvine entered the second quarter up 18-11 thanks to baskets by Ali Dal and Jalen Yim at the end of the first.
The Vaqueros extended their lead past 10 points on the back of more strong play from Stearns. The Vaqueros big man dominated the paint and the glass, using his size to score 10 more points in the quarter, all from near the basket or on free throws.
Jones and Lincoln Dean did their best to help Cabrillo keep pace. Jones dropped four points in the quarter, while Dean scored seven, including the team’s first 3-pointer of the game and a coast-to-coast layup.
Cabrillo hung close to Irvine in the third quarter, staying within 10 points until Holden Stearns hit a 3-pointer to end the quarter for a 34-23 Irvine lead.
Cabrillo started its comeback effort in earnest in the fourth. Down 12 early in the quarter, Cabrillo relied on an outstanding performance from Jones, who scored 15 points in the final stanza, including back-to-back 3-pointers with less than 30 seconds left, to bring Cabrillo within three points, 67-64.
After two Irvine free throws, Jones hit a jumper to again pull the Jaguars within three points with 6 seconds left, 69-66. But Yim hit both free throws to secure the win for Irvine.
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