Mission Viejo's Boys Ousted From Basketball Playoffs by Foothill

For a team that won 29 games and reached the title game of the CIF Southern Section Division 2-AA playoffs, the end was a shock to the system. Mission Viejo’s strong season came to an abrupt finish on Tuesday night with a 46-43 loss to Foothill in a first-round game of the CIF Southern California Division 2 Regional playoffs at Mission Viejo High.

The Diablos held a 10-point lead heading into the fourth quarter and had a four-point advantage with 1:40 left in the game, but they could not hold off Foothill, Senior forward Cooper Pickell’s three-pointer with 35 seconds gave his team the lead at 44-43 and proved to be the game-winner for the Knights, who were Southern Section Division 2A semifinalists.

The Diablos had possession and called a timeout with 11.9 seconds left to set up a final attempt to win the game. But a miscommunication on the inbounds pass led to a bobbled ball and steal by senior guard Rob Filley. Filley hit both ends of a one-and-one from the free-throw line to put the Knights up 46-43. Mission Viejo’s ensuing baseline three-pointer in the closing seconds came up short.

“Our shots didn’t drop and [Foothill] has two returning All-CIF players. Those guys made a difference for them, and their shots fell,” Diablos coach Troy Roelen said.

Mission Viejo started slowly and didn’t even get on the scoreboard until senior Seaver Stoll hit a baseline jump shot with 2:40 left in the first quarter. But the Diablos' defense had held the Knights to only six points at that point, and Mission Viejo trailed only 9-5 at the end of the first quarter.

The Diablos began to break loose late in the second quarter when they went on a 14-0 run in the final three minutes. Senior center Brandon Henson scored on an offensive rebound and putback to cut the Knights' lead to 16-9 with 2:58 left in the quarter. Senior Isaac Neilson followed with a layup under the basket off an assist from senior guard James Cramer.

Sophomore Evan Zeller had a driving layup to cut the deficit to 16-13, and senior guard Frank "Q" Randall followed with a driving layup of his own to pull the Diablos to within 16-15. Zeller had another layup off a fast break to give the Diablos their first lead at 17-16. James Cramer added the final four points of the quarter off a steal and an offensive rebound, followed by a length-of-the-court drive to draw a foul and give the Diablos a 21-16 lead at halftime.

Mission Viejo also finished the third quarter with a 7-0 run to take a 34-24 lead. But the Knights chipped away in the fourth quarter, eventually pulling to within 41-39 with 2:45 left in the game. Zeller made a steal and lead pass to James Cramer for a layup to push the lead back to 43-39, but the Diablos could not put the game away.

James Cramer and Zeller led the Diablos with 12 points each, while Nielson and junior guard Michael Cramer added seven and six.

The one-point loss to Ventura in the section finals and the first-round loss in the state playoffs is a difficult pill to swallow for the Diablos, but Roelen said it doesn’t erase a season that saw the Diablos win 29 games, a South Coast League title and three tournament championships.

“Two games don’t dictate who they are as people and the kind of season that they had,” Roelen said.