FULLERTON — The Sunny Hills boys basketball team erased a 16-point deficit in the second half and got a huge lift from Raeden Bobadilla in the fourth quarter to beat Brea Olinda 59-50 on Tuesday night at Sunny Hills High.
Bobadilla, a senior guard, scored 13 of his 19 points in the decisive quarter, including three 3-pointers.
“That’s what he does for us,” Sunny Hills coach Joe Ok said. “He can shoot the ball from the outside and he’s also crafty around the basket, where he can finish. And that was pretty much on full display in the fourth quarter for us.”
“We rely on him to score points for us,” Ok continued. “We’ve done that ever since last year, so when it’s his turn and his time to do that for us, he was able to step up. We’re really happy he was able to do that tonight and hopefully he can continue that.”
Sunny Hills’ Ze’Brien Watkins added 11 points and Nathan Johnson finished with 10 points, seven of those in the final quarter, as the Lancers improved to 15-7 overall and 2-0 in the North Hills League.
“We knew coming in that this was an explosive team shooting the three,” Ok said. “We’ve seen games where they hit 10, 12 threes, and as you saw in the first half that’s exactly what they did.”
The Wildcats (10-10, 1-1) went 7 of 15 from 3-point range in the first half and six of those came in the second-quarter spurt where Brea Olinda scored 22 points.
Logan Severson made three 3-pointers, all in the second quarter, and Nick Chamberlain knocked down three 3s, two coming in the second quarter to help the Wildcats build a 13-point halftime lead.
Brea Olinda coach O’Shae Williams liked what he saw in the game energy-wise but hopes for a more complete performance going forward.
“I think our energy and effort changed,” Williams said, “and Sunny Hills came out and rebounded, like we told them they were going to do. Hats off to them, they really put together a good second half.”
“We just have to put 32 minutes together instead of 16 minutes,” he continued. “We put 32 minutes (together) against Esperanza and ended up winning, so when we put 32 minutes together we’re a pretty good team.”
Severson finished with a team-high 15 points and Chamberlain added 11 points.
The Wildcats went up 36-20 early in the third after a 3-pointer by Severson.
Sunny Hills started to settle down by getting the ball in the low post to Kamron Tonga. Although Tonga failed to convert a field goal in the game, his presence was undeniable.
“For Kam, it’s about being a presence inside and being able to attack inside,” Ok said, “whether it’s via free throws or buckets. He was making strong moves, playing off two feet and trying to finish, which led to the free throws.”
Tonga scored nine points, all coming from the free-throw line. He went 8 of 10 at the line in the third quarter to help the Lancers pull even with Brea Olinda, 39-39, entering the fourth.
