Shalhevet High School’s dream basketball season ended Monday morning with a 77-71 loss to Bonita Vista in the championship game of the CIF Southern California 3-A Regional tournament.
The Firehawks’ 22-4 record was the best in the history of the school that opened 29 years ago. It was a major upgrade from last year’s 15-14.
Last Thursday night, Coach Ryan Coleman’s team rallied from 14 points down to defeat top-seeded Glendora, 67-65, in overtime when Ze’ev Remer put Shalhevet ahead to stay on a three-point play with 18.5 seconds remaining.
Fifth-seeded Shalhevet started strongly against number two Bonita Vista, holding a 10-point advantage, 19-9, at the end of the first quarter.
The teams exchanged runs of momentum in the second and third quarters, and Shalhevet led by 10 going into the fourth period.
Reflecting on the loss, Coach Coleman tracked the trends of the game.
“We controlled the game for the first quarter because were able to execute our offense as we planned,” Coleman told the Journal. “We had too many defensive lapses in the second quarter, and this led to Bonita Vista gaining momentum. They also began to pressure us on defense, and we turned the ball over way too much.”
Shalhevet rebounded but only temporarily. “We dominated the third quarter by attacking the rim and taking care of the ball,” Coleman said.
“Unfortunately, the fourth quarter was the worst quarter we have had in years. We turned it over time after time, and we could not get any stops on defense.”
Coleman noted that Remer “led us all year long, but he was hampered by foul trouble” and eventually fouled out.
With 28 points, Avi Halpert was the Firehawks’ leading scorer for the second straight game, Remer had 24, and Jacob Pofsky 12.
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