HUNTINGTON BEACH — The young Marina boys basketball team displayed poise and maturity in a down-to-the-wire, 76-74 victory over top-seeded Shalhevet of Los Angeles in a CIF-SS Division 3A semifinal Thursday at Marina High School.
The Vikings, (15-7), who finished second in the Wave League, advance to the championship game. They play the winner of Friday’s semifinal between Glendora and Citrus Valley.
If Glendora wins, Marina officials said the final will be played Wednesday, June 9 at Marina. If Citrus Valley wins, the Vikings will play the final at Citrus Valley on Thursday, June 10.
“Our team chemistry is the best it’s ever been,” Marina coach Nick Racklin said. “We share the ball better than we ever have. We did it with neighborhood kids. Every kid on this team can walk or ride their bike to this school. To me that is the most important thing.”
Marina had a two-point lead with 3.8 seconds left in the game when the Firehawks (20-3) inbounded the ball from the sideline on the Vikings’ end of the court.
The inbound pass was intended for Ze’ev Remer, who was positioned at the opposite end of the floor. The Vikings’ Robert Aguirre, who was guarding Remer, got a hand on the ball, which then then deflected off of Remer and went out of bounds.
Marina then inbounded the ball with 2.8 seconds left and ran out the clock.
About a minute earlier, Marina had 70-66 lead and possession when a technical foul was called on Firehawks coach Ryan Coleman. Aguirre hit both free throws to put the Vikings ahead by six.
About 20 seconds later, Aguirre hit two more free throws to give Marina a 74-68 lead with 35 seconds remaining.
Shalhevet got 3-pointers from Remer and Uzi Mermelstein in the final seconds, but a pair of free throws from Marina sophomore A.J. Robinson wound up being the difference.
The game was fast paced, with both teams launching shots early in their possessions.
Marina never trailed in the contest and held double-digit leads throughout most of the first half.
The Vikings had leads between six and 10 points in the third quarter, but the Firehawks, who hit 14 3-pointers as a team, always came back.
Robinson, a first-year transfer from St. Anthony’s in Long Beach, scored 21 points to lead the Vikings.
“We are the underdogs,” Robinson said. “We showed everybody that we are not the underdogs anymore.”
Remer scored a game-high 37 points, including 18 in the fourth quarter, which is the main reason the Firehawks were in the game until the end.
“I watched like five films (of Shalhevet),” Racklin said. “He (Remer) scored 30 in all five game.”
This post first appeared on ocregister.com
ncG1vNJzZmhqZGy7psPSmqmorZ6Zwamx1qippZxemLyue82erqxnnZa%2FqrrAZpmosaNir6K%2Fyp6rm5mcoXqsus6coqxln5uzbrrOZmhmq5WasW6%2Fx5qjoZ2mmsFuwM5mnJqqnmKzqr7SrWStqpmlerW7jJygn2WjqHqntc2ao6xn