For the second straight game, the Poly boys’ basketball team’s fate hung in the air, tied to the trajectory of a last-second three-point attempt. But while the magic was there for Alexis Moore in the quarterfinals against Los Osos, the Rabbits came up a few inches short in the semis against Etiwanda. In truth, the game was lost before the last heave, thanks to 18 Poly turnovers that led to 22 Etiwanda points in the 58-55 loss.
“A lot of that is their defense,” said Poly coach Sharrief Metoyer after the game, giving the Eagles credit for their help-side shifts, and man-to-man defense. “We’ve been turning the ball over the last few games. Unfortunately, it’s been at inopportune times.”
The turnover woes started pretty early, as Etiwanda got seven of their 11 first-quarter points off Poly miscues. By halftime, they had 11 of their 23 points off turnovers, pretty much the entire way they clawed their way to a 24-23 deficit, despite shooting a lower percentage than Poly and missing all their free throws.
“We tell our kids to keep pressing,” said Eagles coach Dave Kleckner. “To be the aggressor. We think these kids have a lot of fight and resilience—we know they weren’t gonna let up.”
Much of that fight and resilience lies with the Eagles top scorer, Byron Wesley, a junior transfer into Etiwanda, who finished with 22 points. Alex Carmon did a good job bottling him up and being physical in the first half, holding him to just seven; but the scorer got comfortable in the second, and torched Poly with 10 in the fourth quarter, sinking his last three shots and his last four free throws.
It was in the fourth that the tide turned. Poly opened up an eight-point lead in the third quarter, but Wesley (and some easy steal-transition buckets) narrowed it to one point at the start of the fourth. A 6-2 run gave Etiwanda the lead, and they never looked back, as Wesley kept knocking down shots.
You can’t say enough about the play of Roshcon Prince in the game, however, finishing as Poly’s leading scorer and rebounder with 14 and 10. The freshman was in on most of Poly’s positive defensive plays (they created just seven turnovers and netted just six points from them in the game). Twice, it appeared he’d won the game for Poly.
The first came with a minute left in the fourth quarter. The Rabbits offense finally seemed to find some traction, stringing together a few possessions in a row without a turnover, and Alexis Moore had just stolen the ball and fed it to Shelton Boykin for an easy score. Poly was down just 51-49, and Wesley came charging down the court, wanting to put the game on ice. Prince established position in front of him and appeared to draw the charge—but the referee whistled Prince for the block. Instead of Wesley fouling out with his fifth, Prince picked up his fourth, and sent Wesley to the line in the bonus. He hit both shots, giving Etiwanda a four-point lead that proved insurmountable.
The Eagles missed just enough points, and buckets from Carmon and Moore kept Poly in it, so that with 4.6 seconds on the clock, they were down three, with the ball. Moore took the ball downcourt quickly, looking to either take the shot himself on the ball-screen (he didn’t have the room) or to dish it to Robert Nixon Jr. in the corner (he was blocked). He gave it to Prince, who lined up the three, with space…and had it fall just an inch short.
“It was right on line,” said Metoyer, who was standing behind the shot. “Just a little too short.”
After Prince, Alex Carmon was the next leading scorer with 13 points (seven in the third quarter). Ryan Anderson had eight points and seven boards.
With the loss, Poly will take a week off, but their season isn’t over. Though they won’t be in the CIF championship next weekend, they are guaranteed a berth into the state tournament, as a Division 1 semifinalist. They will likely start at home, on either March 8th or 9th. Asked what he wanted his team to remember from the loss as they prepare for the next step, Metoyer didn’t hesitate. “Just how it feels,” he said, “and what it takes to be victorious.”