OLD TIME CONNECTION: It must have seemed like old times for Bonita quarterback Garrett Pendleton and receiver Garrett Horine, who have successfully transferred their talents to the hardwood, in helping Bonita to an easy 81-38 victory over Temple City on Wednesday night.

It must have seemed like they were back on the gridiron again. For the game, Garrett Horine, a receiver on the Bonita football team, scored 16 points from his forward position, while his former quarterback, Garrett Pendleton, scored 14 points playing center, a dozen of those dropping in the first quarter to help give Bonita an early 23-6 first quarter lead over Temple City before literally running the Rams out of the building to win going away 81-38 in the first round of the Southern Section of the CIF 3A playoffs.

For much of the first and second quarters, the announcer sounded like a broken record or a skipping CD as he repeatedly called the two players’ names, “Pendleton, Horine with the assist,” or “Horine, assist Pendleton.”

Each player seemed to be rewarding the other for running the floor. The Rams’ game plan was to shut down Bonita’s powerful outside shooting trio of James Northup, Jordan Butler and Scott Fassas, which allowed Bonita’s “Bigs” to have their way inside.

“Our guards play very unselfishly,” said the newly and neatly shorn Bonita head coach Greg Eckler. Look, JB (Jordan Butler) had only five points, and he didn’t care.

“Pendleton and Horine were very active and put themselves in a good spot to catch and finish or get boards and putbacks.”

After Pendleton and Horine got theirs, the team’s true quarterback, James Northup, controlled the pace of the game, scoring a game-high 18 points. Eckler also got to use his entire bench in the game, which went to a running clock as Bonita pushed its lead at one point to 42 points.

Despite the ease of victory, Eckler didn’t take it for granted. “Any win in the playoffs is big,” Eckler said. “But we want to do more than that.”

“That,” in the form of San Marcos, shows up in La Verne on Friday night for a second-round matchup.

Meanwhile, across town, Damien escaped with a 58-56 overtime win over Agoura on Chris Reyes’ buzzer beater. Should Damien and Bonita win their next games, the two La Verne teams could meet in a much anticipated showdown for basketball bragging rights. On the same evening, the state champion La Verne Lutheran Trojans were dispatching Claremont, 66-48, behind Arizona-bound Grant Jerrett’s 20 points.

Buying or Selling or Just Feel Like Talking, Call La Verne’s Realtor, Colleen Bennett,  at (909) 374-4744.