Laguna Blanca’s boys hoops squad pulled a major first-round upset on Wednesday, outscoring fifth-seeded Orangewood Academy 22-7 in the fourth quarter to pull out a 60-57 win. The Owls trailed by as much as 13 late in the third quarter.
“It was just awesome. This is a big-time win for us,” said coach Sal Rodriguez, who praised assistant Shantay Legans for a job well-done on the bench.
Luther Tarver-Burks had 20 points and Connor Murphy had 17 including big free throws in the fourth quarter. Senior post player Jake Longstreth drove to the left and put one in to tie the game, and the Owls took their first lead with 28 seconds remaining.
The Spartans’ star point guard, R.J. Arriola, scored 31 points but fouled out late and was called for a technical for taking his jersey off in frustration as he left the floor.
Freshman Spencer Mikles drained a pair of 3-pointers for the Owls, who will host 11th-seeded L.A. Adventist in the second round of the Division VI-AA playoffs at Merovick Gym on Friday night.
The Owls improved to 10-14, while Orangewood finishes at 20-7.
LAGUNA BLANCA 60, ORANGEWOOD ACADEMY 57
LAGUNA BLANCA — Mikles 6, Murphy 17, Burks 20, Longstreth 15, Bickett 2. Totals 20 12-14 57.
ORANGEWOOD — Arriola 31, Morales 5, Monty 15, Schultz 6. Totals 24 3-10 60.
Laguna Blanca…16 12 10 22 — 60
Orangewood…..20 15 15 7 — 57
3-point goals — LB 6 (Mikles 2, Murphy 2, Tarver-Burks 2), OA 9 (Arriola 5, Monty 3 Morales 1).
