The Maranatha High School boy’s basketball team finished the first round of the CIF State playoffs in triple digits Wednesday night, defeating the Pacific Ridge Firebirds 101-54.
Maranatha senior Tyler Dorsey ended the night with a game-high 37 points and nine rebounds, while junior Sean Romero dropped seven 3-pointers to end the game right behind Dorsey with 21 points.
“This is over now,” Maranatha head coach Tim Tucker said about his team’s hot scoring streak. “You celebrate for the night, and then you get back to work tomorrow. I try not to burn them too much, but just keep it going and do what we got to do.”
The game started out slow for the Minutemen, only leading by five in the early minutes of the first quarter. Fast-breaks and multiple offensive bursts gave the Minutemen a 20 point lead in the middle of the second quarter. The Minutemen brushed aside the Firebirds and took a resounding 55-26 lead going into halftime, with Dorsey finishing the half with as many points as Pacific Ridge.
“I’m just trying to get better every game,” Dorsey said on finishing the half with 26 points. “I don’t take any days off and I don’t care who the opponent is, I just got to work on my game.”
Maranatha’s big man duo in juniors Odera Nwobi and Trevor Stanback linked up for a convincing dunk to open up the second half before Dorsey added on to his scoring tally and keeping the Firebirds stumped at only 28 points.
The Minutemen surged to a 72-28 lead in the dying moments of the third after a Lob City-esque display from Dorsey, Stanback and senior Tey Williams, while Romero continued to sink his shots from downtown.
Maranatha displayed some brilliant athleticism at the end of the third quarter as Dorsey’s 3-point attempt led to a confident dunk by sophomore Jesse Elrod to give the Minutemen a 82-35 lead into the fourth.
From there, Tucker decided to play his second string, who put up 19 points in the last quarter to bring the Minutemen to a triple digit score. Freshman Tevan Khudatyan sank a buzzer-beater floater to finish the game 101-54.
The Minutemen will host Chaminade Saturday night, where Stanback will face his former team in the CIF State Semifinals.