Capistrano Valley Passes 'Chemistry' Test to Reach Title Game

Together, they have played more than 85 basketball games, including spring conditioning leagues and summer club-level leagues. That’s more games than an NBA regular season, and they are only high school juniors!

Together, they tick like an expensive Swiss watch — intricate in their movements, resilient under adverse conditions, diverse in what they contribute to the team and dependable in their production, night in and night out.

Together, they represent three-fifths of the starting unit that put Capistrano Valley’s boys basketball team back on the map and into the CIF Southern Section Division 1A championship game for the first time in a decade.

And together, they agree there is one ingredient that has brought the second-seeded Cougars (24-6) to the pinnacle of high school basketball when they face the top-seeded Loyola Cubs (23-5) Saturday at the Anaheim Convention Center (2:15 p.m.).

“Chemistry,” says point guard Nick Thomas. “Most of us are juniors and we’re use to playing with each other. That’s what makes it even better this year.”

“Chemistry,” agrees forward Aleks Lipovic. “It’s one of the most important things for us.”

“Chemistry,” reiterates forward Stephen Short. “It’s never just one guy. We’ve been playing together since middle school. Everyone on the team contributes.”

The three juniors have played an integral part in the Cougars' success this season. With only one senior — Taylor Hamasaki — in the starting lineup, Thomas, Lipovic and Short have been the three most consistent players on the court for the Cougars and have contributed mightily to the team's surprising accomplishments this season — some say a year ahead of schedule — in distinctive methods and different means.

“They don’t hang around together off the court, but they really do a nice job on bonding together on the court,” said Brian Mulligan, the Cougars’ coach for the past 16 seasons. “We had a senior-dominated team last year that didn’t produce. Now with these three juniors who played as sophomores on the varsity last year, they really do a good job of taking care of each other and knowing where the other person is.”

Here’s a closer look at the three juniors:

Nick Thomas – The 5-foot-11 guard finished second in Orange County with 75 three-pointers, connecting on 44 percent of his attempts, including a season-high of six against La Habra in winning the MVP award at the North/South Challenge. Thomas averaged 13.1 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.9 assists a game this season.

Comparatively, the Cougars’ team shot 37 percent from three-point range on 484 attempts, but that still was better than Loyola, which shot 34 percent on 399 attempts.

“It’s been a lot of hard work, a lot of extra shots,” Thomas said. “The important thing about three-pointers is to keep the rhythm going. But if they’re not falling, we can go inside and score.”

Thomas started basketball at age 9 when he began attending summer camps at Capistrano Valley. Thomas said he lived and breathed basketball. It was the only sport he’s ever wanted to play. As an eighth-grader, he briefly considered going to Mater Dei, but decided that he had a better chance of playing, and starting, for the Cougars. And while Mater Dei lost in the Division IAA semifinals, Thomas is still playing.

“The highlight of the year is being in the CIF Championship,” Thomas said. “Every game we have gotten better and better. We’ve just got to find a way to win.”

Aleks Lipovic – The 6-4 guard/forward has been Mr. Versatility for the Cougars this season. He went to the free-throw line more than other player with 98 attempts, and averaged 11 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. Lipovic is as comfortable shooting beyond the three-point line as he is going inside and drawing the foul.

His parents are from Serbia, but Lipovic is all So Cal. He grew up in Capistrano Beach and started playing basketball as a fourth grader for the NJB Hawks. “I was always the biggest kid on the court,” he said. “I remember it like it was yesterday.”

His brother, Dex, was a basketball player at Capistrano Valley and graduated in 2009. Aleks decided to follow him there and two years later, he’s glad he did.

“It’s almost surreal to get there,” Lipovic said of reaching the championship game. “I’m really proud of the team. Every day we’ve talked about playing for this year and everybody has played unselfish. If we play it right, do what we need to do by holding them to one shot and getting back on defense, we definitely can win the game.”

Stephen Short – The 6-4 forward averaged only 7.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game this season, but when he missed most of December after having his two front teeth knocked out in a tournament game, the Cougars suffered without his inside presence. Short is the team's muscle and doesn’t hesitate to take the ball strong to the basket or pull up for a short baseline jumper.

Short has the build of a football and for good reason. He is the son of Stan Short, who played football at Penn State in 1982-83 and as an offensive guard was drafted by the Detroit Lions in 1985. But Stephen has never played football, preferring the hard court of basketball and the hardball of baseball as a pitcher for the Cougars.

“I liked basketball because you’re always moving; in football you stand around a lot,” Short said. “I like working really hard, usually on defense. I always try to get at least 10 rebounds a game. If I do that, I know I’m doing my job for the team.”

He also was quick to point out that much of the Cougars success this season is because of the development of Chris Bench at center. Bench, a 6-8 junior, didn’t start during the first half of the season, but since his insertion into the starting line-up he has averaged a team-high 7.1 rebounds and 2.3 blocks (67 total) for the season.

The Cougars also have become a better defensive team in the second half of the season. They finished second at 5-3 in the South Coast League and were 11-2 on neutral courts. Loyola also had two losses on neutral courts this year.

“Chris has really stepped up for us this season,” Short said. “Coming off last year I didn’t think we’d be going to CIF. I thought we were good, but everyone just kept working hard every day and now here we are. If we play our game Saturday we have a great change of winning.”

For Capistrano Valley to win, it will need to get off to a quick start, limit the Cubs to one shot and shoot well from the free throw line.

The Cougars began the game by making only 2 of 15 shots against Silverado in the quarterfinals and 4 of 13 against Aliso Niguel in the semifinals. Meanwhile, the Cubs have won their last five games by an average of 30 points and are averaging 36.4 rebounds a game, compared to 28.6 for the Cougars. Loyola also shot 72 percent from the line, Capistrano Valley 68 percent.

The last time Capistrano Valley appeared in a CIF Southern Section Final was in 2001 when it played against Upland and lost by 17. The last championship title for the Cougars came in 1992, and they won in 1989 as well. Coach Mulligan said they are long overdue.

“The juniors figured out their roles and the seniors, like Caden Kinard and Sean Little,have done all the little things behind the scenes,” Mulligan said. “This group has adapted well and they’ve come a long ways. We’ll see what happens Saturday.”