MISSION HILLS — A player’s impact upon a game is often measured through their grit and determination.
With the high school basketball season coming down to the final two games, Alemany assistant coach Randy Narciso made it easy to determine which players had the highest impact when it mattered most.
The Alemany roller coaster of a season moved forward with a 74-63 victory over Bosco Tech on Tuesday in the CIF Southern California Regional Division III final at Alemany High.
The young stars for Alemany shined in more ways than one, as they helped the team advance to the state finals in Sacramento. Alemany will face Santa Cruz, the Northern California Regional top seed and champion, in the state final Friday at 4 p.m. at Golden 1 Center.
“Player impact rating isn’t just scoring,” said Alemany head coach Mike Dulaney. “It’s rebounds, assists and hustle plays and we had a lot of that tonight.”
The Warriors caught fire during their postseason run. After going 1-6 in the Mission League, the Warriors have clawed their way through the CIF postseason. They had won nine games in a row heading into Tuesday’s contest.
One of their nine wins was an 86-80 victory in triple overtime over Bosco Tech on Feb. 24 in the CIF-Southern Section Division 3A final.
The Tigers arrived ready for the rematch. Led by Jaden Erami’s 21 points and team-high five steals, the Tigers would not go away.
“It was easy to keep guys fired up because (Bosco Tech) is so tough,” said Dulaney. “We knew they were going to come at us and they never give up. We knew that. They are such a well-coached ball club and we just had to match their intensity.”
Bosco Tech went down early in the first quarter, but with its tenacious defense and a knack for finding the ball, they cut the Warriors’ lead to one point at halftime.
Alemany’s Mike Lindsay scored 10 points early in the contest and wound up being the game’s top scorer with 23 points.
Lindsay contributed in all aspects with three rebounds, two steals and one assist, giving him a Player Impact Rating of 17, the second highest on the team.
“We played them last time for the ring, so we were prepared and came out with the win,” said Lindsay. “It means a lot because we know we played a tough team. We know we’re a good team so we just had to stick to the game plan. Now we just got to keep working hard, show up on time, go to Sacramento and just be ready to win.”
It became evident that the sheer size of Alemany’s lineup had the potential to wear down Bosco Tech.
The Tigers’ big men, Bourgeois Tshilobo and Sam Mbingazo, each recorded 11 rebounds and helped slow any momentum the Tigers managed to garner.
Alemany held an 11-point lead heading into the fourth quarter and never looked back.
The Warriors now have a chance to end their season on the highest note possible.
“It’s just a blessing to play for a state championship,” said Dulaney. “Let’s get one more win.”
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