3 SLO County high schools advancing in state playoffs: See results of basketball, soccer

Morro Bay High School’s girls basketball team’s successful season carried on on Tuesday with a hard-fought 49-29 victory over Rancho Cucamonga in the first round of the state playoffs in front of a packed home gym.

Meanwhile, Misson Prep’s boys squad held on in a nail-biter on the road, beating Diamond Ranch of Pomona 75-72. Arroyo Grande girls soccer won 2-0 over Eagle Rock while Mission Prep’s girls soccer fell 4-0 to Everett Alavarez in Salinas.

The Pirates (24-7) had to counter a physical squad from Rancho Cucamonga (24-10) that used a full-court press to force several turnovers in the first half. The visiting Cougars levied several hard fouls throughout the game.

But at halftime, Morro Bay Coach Alex Engel told the Pirates to find a way to grab rebounds and go quickly to break the press. That created openings on offense, which was led by Tailer Morrison, who tallied a game-high 19 points, 17 rebounds and three blocks.

“Their pressure kept the ball on our side of the court,” Engel said. “And so at halftime, I said, ‘Hey, we have to make this adjustment. We have to start to look to be a little more aggressive and if you get a rebound, just go, and then they’re behind you. Now you got an advantage.’ And so at halftime, we had to make that adjustment, but that press early on really was disruptive.”

Morro Bay girls basketball finds the winning recipe

Once Morro Bay was able to push and get into its offense, they exploded in the second half, tallying 16 points in the third quarter to match their entire first half total.

Georgie Wheeler drained four 3-pointers in the second half to put the game out of reach for the Cougars. Wheeler was the Pirates’ second leading scorer on the night with 14 points.

Morrison said her goal was to establish her position inside, and then take her time as the tallest player on the floor to convert inside looks, scoring a majority of her team’s points in the first half.

“I think really just putting my body in front of them and using my strength was my goal,” Morrison said. “I definitely slow down to see if I’m being double teamed and then if I’m one-on-one, just take my time, find the target and make my move.”

Morrison added: “I think once we figured out their press, we were pretty good. It took like a couple tries ... Georgie got hurt in the middle of the game, but she came back and got hot.”

Engel said that Morrison, a 6-foot-1 senior center, has come a long way with the use of her left hand to score inside.

“When she came in as a sophomore, (Morrison) couldn’t use her left hand,” Engel said. “And now it’s funny because teams will call it out and scout her. I’ll hear them on the court saying ‘She’s going left,’ and I had one team yell that she’s a lefty. She’s actually a righty, but she’s learned to be really good around the basket with both hands and she has a soft touch. When she’s patient and calm, she gets what she wants.”

On defense, Morro Bay forced long-range shots using a zone defense that was effective.

Senior Fiona Durham added eight points and nine rebounds.

“We scouted them very well,” Durham said. “And we knew they weren’t a very strong shooting team. And so we decided to play a zone instead of our regular man. And so we definitely tried to pack it in and make sure they couldn’t score and it worked.”

Thrilling the home crowd

Durham said playing in front of a packed home gym has been a thrill.

“It’s just incredible having the huge fan base that we have,” Durham said. “Filling this gym up is like one of the best feelings like when you’re on the court. And I think just feeling that makes you want to win even more.”

Engel said the team has been the buzz of the school and community of late. Among Tuesday’s fans was former Morro Bay Coach Cary Nerelli, who coached the Pirates with success for decades.

“Pretty much since the end the league and in through the playoffs, we’ve had great support,” Engel said. “We’re really grateful for the buzz around the school. The kids are talking about coming to the games. There’s community members that come to the games, staff members. It’s really great to see everyone and I know our whole team is very grateful for that.”

Morro Bay, a No. 5 seed in the CIF Division 3 bracket, hosts Granada Hills Charter at home on Thursday.

Mission Prep’s boys upset Diamond Ranch

On Jan. 12, Mission Prep boys basketball dropped their 10th straight game in a row to Arroyo Grande in 50-44 loss. But in the hallway connecting to the Mission Prep gym, head coach Terrance Harris continued to preach that his team were “champions in their ability to keep getting off the mat.”

“They’ve been knocked down a number of times,” Harris said. “The resolve is there. The willingness to get better is there.”

Fast forward over a month later and the Royals defeated Diamond Ranch in the first round of the CIF Division IV State playoffs in a closely contested 75-72 win on Tuesday night. The Royals were the No. 14 seed in the tournament and took down the No. 3 seed, Diamond Ranch, on the road.

One of the differences between the Royals now versus on their losing streak was a key absence from junior guard Roman Benedetti. The 6-foot-5 forward missed most of the regular season due to injury, but made his return for the section and state playoffs.

Benedetti finished with 35 points, including four made threes. Down the stretch of the game, Benedetti hit two key three-pointers to extend the Royals lead and knocked down free throws to seal the game.

“He’s a difference maker,” Harris said. “I was really proud of the way that guys responded while he was out and it really gave some guys opportunities to step up, but there’s no doubt we are just a different team with him on the floor.”

With one minute remaining, the Royals were up 68-65. The Panthers’ Dylan Tran added a runner for two points. After a Royals’ timeout on the following possession, Benedetti received the ball off a screen on the left wing and drained it to put Mission Prep up six.

The Panthers responded quickly with a score of their own, but junior guard Jayden Nozil calmly stepped to the line and made both free throws. Benedetti sealed the game after adding two last free throws to give him 35 points on the night.

“I thought our boys were incredibly poised in a challenged environment,” Harris said. “They took a lot of punches from (Diamond Ranch) and never backed down.”

The Royals have taken punches all season. In their 11-game losing streak, the Royals lost nine of them by at least 10 points — but the team never folded.

“They kept working and honestly they kept believing in their abilities,” Harris said.

Despite having more losses than wins, the Royals secured the No. 2 seed in the Division II section playoffs. However, according to Harris, the Royals “earned it on the floor.”

“We competed down to the very last second of the finals,” Harris said. “We don’t make the seeds. We just play the game.”

Harris pointed out that the Royals are now the No. 14 seed in the state playoffs and defeated the No. 3 seed.

“I think that says much about who we are and about what we’re capable of,” Harris said.

On the game, Nozil added 15 points while junior point guard Brody Miller scored 12 points.

The Royals will move on to the second round of the playoffs against No. 6 seed Grant in Van Nuys on Thursday at 7 p.m. on the road.

Arroyo Grande girls soccer wins, Mission falls

The Eagles (12-9-2) won in front of a large home crowd as the No. 1 seed in the CIF SoCal Division 4 bracket, topping Eagle Rock 2-0.

Presley Dunkel scored in the first half with an assist from Kendall Merlo. And then Derby Coykendall scored in the second half with an assist from Kendall Royal.

Arroyo Grande Coach Matthew Carinio said his squad has faced some illness and injuries this week.

Carinio said the Eagles were trying to manage the game and “play smart and use our energies wisely.”

“That’s kind of like one big thing we talked about,” Carinio said. “But definitely playing in front of the home crowd was good for energy for the team.”

Carinio said the Eagles squad has been playing pretty good defense for most of the season, so they “definitely try to focus on having high energy when the other team has the ball.”

Jenelle Guey-Mock played a strong game at goalkeeper, including a late stop of a penalty kick as well, her coach said.

Carinio said his team has been playing good soccer of late, the past two to three weeks, making a CIF-Central Section final run, falling in the title Division 2 title game to Independence of Bakersfield after three straight wins to get there.

Arroyo Grande moves on to play Estancia at home at 5 p.m. on Thursday in the regional semifinals. A title matchup would be Saturday at 5 p.m. if they can advance.

Mission Prep’s girls’ team lost Tuesday 4-0 to Everett Alvarez in Salinas to end their stellar season. The Royals (13-8-5) won the CIF Central Section Division 4 playoffs.