Boys Basketball CIF Run Comes To An End

On February 14th, 2023, San Dimas Saints Boys Basketball’s CIF run came to an end with a devastating loss to rival school Bonita 58-59. The Saints beat Bonita earlier in the season with a score of 73-69. Coming into the game, they were hoping to beat them once again. 

The Saints came out strong by making the first basket during the first quarter. Then Bonita drove down the court and scored a point of their own. The first quarter was back and forth resulting in a very tight end score of 15-15.

Bonita got the second quarter started with a clutch three-pointer. Then they would continue to score, and their lead would continue to grow throughout the second quarter. The Saints then rallied back to bring it close and would go into halftime trailing by 2, 26-28. 

The Saints got off to a hot start when Senior Ethan Chavez hit a three-pointer. With the game starting to get down to the wire, the scoring was still very close, going back and forth. To end the third quarter the Saints would trail by 1, 43-44. 

Bonita would go on to make back-to-back three’s to take the lead putting Bonita at a 5 point lead. The Saints would rally back and score 7 unanswered points to put them up by 2, 57-55. 

With time winding down in the fourth quarter, Bonita would foul Junior Logan Hodson and send him to the free throw line. With the crowd getting loud, he went on to miss the first free throw but would make the second one. With the Saints leading by 1, Bonita would drive down the court to try and take the lead. As Senior from Bonita Colton Perez attempted a shot, he would get fouled and would go to the free throw line with a chance to take the lead. He would go on to bury both free throws and give Bonita a 1-point lead, 59-58.

With 7.9 seconds left in the game, San Dimas would take a timeout to try and set up a game-winning play. Senior Aaron Park was driving down the court with the ball to try to win it for the Saints. Bonita would knock the ball away but Park would get it back and try to throw up a miracle shot with Bonitas defense all over him. The shot did not go in, and the Bearcat’s would knock out San Dimas and advance to the Semi-Finals of Division 3A. 

After the game Junior, Logan Hodson said, “We came out pretty strong and with intensity but overall we struggled to defend. If we shot better shots we would’ve come out with a win”.

Some of San Dimas’s students wanted a foul call on the last shot but didn’t get it. Overall both teams played a great game, that kept the audience on their toes.