If Only Next Week’s Final Exams Were as Easy as Bonita’s Friday Night Wins

Caelan Tiongson prepares to in-bound the ball to James Northup.

It was another winning night for Bonita basketball as the varsity boys (17-3) defeated Wilson 63-25 and the varsity girls (18-2) prevailed 51-21over the Wildcats.

In the early going of the boys’ contest, the game appeared more like a struggle between the bricklayers and the stonemasons. Bonita controlled the boards over the smaller and outmanned Wilson team, but couldn’t fully exploit the match-ups as they repeatedly misfired.

 “My shooters were open and they couldn’t make shots,” Bonita head coach Greg Eckler said. “My advice from the sideline was keeping shooting the ball.”

The Bearcats must have been listening because in the second quarter, Bonita began to settle down and find the range, expanding its first-quarter 12-6 lead to 28-13 at the half, which included a 12-0 run at one point. Landing in the scoring column for Bonita were James Northup, Garrett Horine, Caelan Tiongson and C.J. Miller. Tim Fassas threaded the needle on a couple of assists to help give Bonita the big lead.

In the third, Garrett Horine, with six points, and Jordan Butler, with five points, helped give Bonita a 42-18 lead.

Bonita had plenty to cheer about.

Bonita started the fourth frame with a 10-0 streak, and this time it was Miller scoring eight of those 10 with a series of mid-range jumpers and layups. Fassas also knocked down a trey and a deuce, and Shayan Karim and Erik Woodruff, making his return from an injury, also found their way into the scoring book.

“Luckily, we played good defense all night long, which kept us in the game early,” Eckler said.

Eckler understands the strength of his team is defense, which has been his mantra all season. It’s defense, he believes, that will determine the length of Bonita’s post-season run.

“If we play good ‘D,’ you can still be in the game; if you don’t play good ‘D,’ you don’t have a chance,” he said.

Garrett Horine, No. 30, scored six points in the third quarter.

On the upside, Bonita welcomed the return of Woodruff, a big body that can be counted on to give the Bearcats some rugged minutes against more physical teams. At the same time, Bonita lost Garrett Pendleton to a sore back. He could be out up to four weeks, Eckler said.

Meanwhile, the varsity girls bounced back from a tough loss against Diamond Ranch to throttle Wilson. In the first, Wilson trailed 7-6 when Bonita went on a 6-0 run to close the quarter, 13-6, showing there would be no hangover from Wednesday’s loss.

Bonita pushed the lead to 24-6 before Wilson’s Naijah Calhoun stopped the run with a jumper. Bonita closed out the quarter leading 30-15, getting key contributions from Madison Zylstra, Sarah Jackson, Natalie Reyes, Lauren Hastings and Ariana Domasin.

When the final buzzer sounded, Bonita had claimed a complete victory.

“It was nice rebound game for us,” head coach Darren Baumunk said. “We took control early and we held it. The fourth quarter got a little sloppy, but fortunately we were up by 25 or 30 points. But it was a good win for us.”

Baumunk said he was confident entering the contest, but still needed to see how his team would respond.

“I told them, we’ll find out how good a team we are,” he said. “If we can play well tonight, then we’re getting there.”

Baumunk called the win a team victory.

“Brianna (Kennedy) looked good inside, Madison started shooting the ball a little bit, Taylor was attacking,” Baumunk said. “Tonight was good night for Natalie who started for the first time for us at the point.”

As a result, Anderson shifted to the shooting guard position and Lauren Hastings came off the bench.

Every move Baumunk made seemed to work out.

Both Bonita teams play at home again next week, facing Walnut on Wednesday and Charter Oak on Friday.

Taylor Anderson, Brianna Kennedy, Madison Zylstra and Jaclyn Smith enjoy a rest on the bench.