“All season long we prided ourselves on our defense,” Poly head coach Sharrief Metoyer said after his team’s 51-43 defeat of the Pasadena Bulldogs in round two of the CIF playoffs. “And tonight our defensive energy was up.” Boy, no kidding—the ‘Rabbits posted a 9-0 shutout after the first quarter, and led 27-12 at halftime, building a cushion big enough to sustain poor free throw shooting and some defensive breakdowns late in the game.
The Jackrabbits shot poorly in the early period, missing their first seven field goals before center Julian Camper decided that enough was enough—they started 2/12 from the field and finished the first quarter 4/17. Due to their defensive pressure, which forced six turnovers in the first eight minutes, Poly still came out with a nine-point lead, despite their shooting woes. Almost a minute into the second, the Bulldogs broke their scoring drought with a three-pointer from George Toyama, the game’s leading scorer with 18. After that, though, Poly started to break out of their slump as well, as Robert Nixon, Jr. stepped up and drained two three’s, his team’s first after starting 0/5 from behind the arc. Poly warmed up, scoring 18 points in the second quarter behind Nixon Jr., Shelton Boykin, and Julian Camper. Boykin had one of his better performances off the bench, with 13 points (to lead Poly), five rebounds, an assist, a steal, and one crowd-pleasing dunk. “That’s my job,” Boykin said after the game, “to come off the bench and get everyone hyped. I’m like Lamar Odom.”
After the ‘Rabbits’ stellar first half, there was less to get hyped about in the final sixteen minutes. Poly shot 7/20 from the charity stripe, and gave Pasadena a number of open looks. Still, they maintained consistent pressure inside, and kept the Bulldogs from getting any big runs—with four minutes left in the game, Poly was leading by twenty points, 47-27. Pasadena closed the game 16-4, but never brought the lead to single digits. Other leaders for Poly were Camper, who had eight points and five boards, and Ryan Anderson, with seven points and nine rebounds. Poly’s guards stepped up, shooting better and pulling down rebounds as well (starting guards Michael Mayes and Alexis Moore had seven between them).
Metoyer didn’t seem all that pleased with his team’s free throw-shooting, but pointed out that he was glad they “played well enough early that it was okay.”
Boykin said he and his teammates were elated with the win, even after the second-half woes. He pointed out that two playoff wins for the program was great considering Poly’s recent history of early exits. “We’re trying to make a dynasty around here,” he said.
They’ll get a big chance to up their reputation next Tuesday, when Poly hosts a quarterfinal game against Dominguez, who beat Hesperia on Friday night.