In the CIF Div 1A final on Saturday at the Pond in Anaheim the #3 seeded Aliso Niguel Wolverines upset the #1 seeded El Toro Chargers 67-60 to win their first CIF basketball championship.

The Wolverines held their poise after falling behind 13-2 in the first 6 minutes of the game. In the first two minutes of the game there was no scoring until Jonathan Johnson 6'2" Sr G for the Chargers, known mostly for his outstanding defensive ability, hit a 3 pointer to get the Chargers on the board. 20 seconds later Andrew Meshot hit another three pointer and it was 6-0. Roman Yanez 6'3" Sr G was fouled by the Wolverines' 6'4" Kyle Zierer and made both free throws for an 8-0 lead.

Michael Roll,6'5" Sr G Orange County's highest scorer and a UCLA signee, got Aliso Niguel on the board by scoring a layup to cut the margin to 8-2 at the midway mark of the period. Kelvin Kim 5'10" Charger PG scored a layup to make it 10-2 and after nearly two scoreless minutes Johnson hit another three pointer to make it 13-2 and little did anyone know that it would be the Chargers largest lead of the night. With 1:17 left in period, Roll hit a 3 pointer from way out on right wing to make it 13-5. Johnson made two free throws with 56 seconds left and made it 15-5 but Roll came back with another long three and margin was 15-8. With the clock winding down to the end of the period, Tyler Zanolli 6'3" sr G passed the ball over to Zierer who launched a three point shot from the right wing and it hit nothing but net. The score was now 15-11 at the end of the first period and the Wolverines felt they were back in the game.

Ted Griffin 6'5" Sr g opened the third period by a hitting a shot to make it 15-13. Then Terence Green gave the Wolverines their first lead of the game when he hit a 3 pointer to make 16-15. The Wolverine fans were delirious with joy as sounds were ringing from the rafters of the old Pond in Anaheim. Ugo Mbelu 6'3" sr G made the first of two free throws to tie the game at 16but Roll came back with another 3 pointer to put the Wolverines back in front 19-16. A three pointer from Gardener made it 24-18 but El Toro came back and stayed within two at halftime 35-33 .

The second period was an astounding period of shooting by high school teams in a large arena. Aliso Niguel hit an incredible 10-11 from the field including 3-3 from behind the arc. The Chargers were 6-10 including 2-4 from beyond the arc. Roll was leading scorer at halftime with 18 points on 6-8 from field with 3-3 from beyond the arc and 1-2 from the line. Jonathan Johnson led the Chargers with 13 on 4-6 from field including 2-3 from three-point country.

The third period was nip and tuck thru the midway mark as El Toro came back and took the lead at 38-37 on a putback by Yanez at the 6:44 mark. But that only lasted 16 seconds before Gardener came back with a 3 pointer to make it 40-38 Aliso Niguel. A three pointer by Kim gave the Chargers the lead back 41-40. Then Green scored to put the Wolverines back in front and they increased the lead to 50-42. Kim scored on driving layup for El Toro to end the period with score 50-44 in favor of Aliso Niguel.

An offensive rebound and putback by Zierer opened the 4th quarter and gave the Wolverines an 8 pt lead at 52-44. From this point on the Wolverines had control of the game, never letting their opponent to get closer than 5 points and building it up to 10 points at 64-54 with 44 seconds left in the game. A three pointer by Kim with 7 seconds left cut the lead to 65-60 but a long pass to Gardner for a score made it 67-60 and the Wolverines could start the celebration. They had gained revenge for their one point loss in a Christmas tournament at the Anaheim Convention center when they were paired in first round matchup. A hook shot by 7 footer David Foster that was in the air when buzzer went off gave the Chargers a one-point victory.

The Wolverines shot 25-47 from field for 53.2% and 10-16 from free throw line while the Chargers were 20-49 from the field and 12-20 from foul line. Mike Roll led all scorers with 22 points on 8-15 from floor including 3-5 from 3-point land. He also shared rebounding honors with Kyle Zierer , each pulling down 7 as they outrebounded the Chargers 31-24. Terrence Green with 15 and Xavier Gardner with 10 were also in double figures. Green, Gardner and Roll all had 3 assists while for the Chargers Johnson and Yanez had 5 boards each. Johnson had 5 assists. Kelvin Kim led the Chargers in scoring with 17 and Jonathan Johnson added 16.

Both teams will now enter the state playoffs with Aliso Niguel traveling to Clovis West on Tuesday and El Toro plays Monday at El Camino. The semis are set for Thursday night and the Southern Calif Championships in the Sports Arena in LA on Saturday, March 12th. Aliso Niguel now has record of 28-3, which ties Mater Dei for county's best win-loss record and El Toro falls to 25-6.

Aliso Niguel 11 24 15 17--67

El Toro 15 18 11 16-60

Aliso Niguel: Roll 22, Green 15, Gardner 10 , Zierer 7, Griffin 7, Zanolli 4, Connor 2-67.

El Toro: Kim 17, Johnson 16, Yanez 14, Best 7, Meshot 5, Mbelu 1—60.

The Hart high school basketball team was rudely awakened from its improbable playoff dream Saturday night at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim. Nationally ranked Etiwanda shook off an early deficit and won going away 60-45 in the Southern Section Division 1-AA final. Hart of Newhall, the number three finisher from the Foothill League, was a Wild Card entry into the playoffs.

The Indians beat Fountain Valley, Alhambra, upset second seeded Rancho Verde, upset Long Beach Jordan, and beat Diamond Bar to get here. Hart led 16-6, 18-8 and 23-13. There was talk of "the slipper still fits" and "Hart still beating" (no pun intended) at press row. Then Etiwanda woke up, picked up the defensive pressure, and went on a 27-2 run at one point over the second and third quarters and won easily.

Ryan Wolfe was the only Hart player in double figures with 20 points. Josh Herman and Ryan Russell had eight points each for Hart as well.

The trio of Jeff Pendergraph, Darren Collison and David Carter led Etiwanda.

Hart travels to Clovis on Monday night in the first round of the state playoffs.