IMAGE VIA Brody Hannon Photography

After a thrilling win over the Etiwanda Eagles, the Cubs looked to go 3-for-3 in the upset category as they took on the 6th-seeded St. John Bosco Braves in the CIF Division 1 Quarterfinals.

Starting Lineup

PG: Matthias Wagner, #12 (6’1”, Sr., PG)

SG: Jonas de Krassel, #20 (6’4”, So., G/F)

SF: Vincent Sampson, #30 (6’1”, Sr., F/C)

PF: Hugh Vandeweghe, #24 (6’7”, So., F/C)

C: Parker Jones, #13 (6’6”, Sr., G/F/C)

First Quarter

The Braves win the opening tip, but miss a three 15 seconds into the game.  They drain one with 6:44 remaining to take an early lead.  Sampson gets a tough layup to fall with 6:09 left, and the Cubs are now on the board.  A Cub steal leads to a Sampson layup with under 5:55 remaining.  The Braves respond with a layup on their end ten seconds later.  Wagner gets a steal and lobs it up to Jones, who lays it in with five minutes left.  At this point, the Cubs lead 6-5.  The Braves make two layups at the 4:03 and 3:39 marks, respectively.  De Krassel’s layup makes it a 9-8 ball game with 3:19 left.  Cox’s steal leads to a Toliver layup with 3:10 remaining.  The Braves get another layup with under three minutes left, and Kelly makes one on the other end with 2:40 to go.  The Braves bury a three to take a 14-12 lead with 2:13 remaining, and the coach Powell calls a timeout.  Kelly makes a pair of free throws at the 1:31 mark to tie the game at 14.  Bosco buries a deep three with 1:14 left, but Cox ties it again with a triple of his own at the one-minute mark.  The Braves regain the lead by making one of two free throws with 30 seconds left, and neither team scores again to end the quarter.

Score: 18-17 Bosco

Second Quarter

The Cubs begin with the ball, but the Braves steal it and miss at the 7:50 mark.  Toliver is fouled with 7:09 to go and makes one of two to tie the game at 18.  The Braves drill a three with under seven minutes remaining.  Toliver makes a two-pointer with 6:30 to go.  A steal by Jones leads to more Toliver free throws with 6:18 remaining, and he makes one of two again.  The Braves sink another three with six minutes left to take a 24-21 lead.  Toliver makes another jumper with 5:09 left to keep the Cubs in the game, 24-23.  The Braves get a three-point-play with 4:22 remaining.  A Braves steal is countered with a de Krassel swat with about four minutes to go in the half.  The Braves get another and-one layup to go, but miss the following free throw with 3:02 remaining.  De Krassel sinks a three with 2:50 left, but the Cubs still trail 29-26.  The Braves continue to get to the rim, making another layup with 2:30 to go.  Cox makes two free throws with 1:44 left, but so do the Braves with 1:15 remaining.  Solid Cub defense leads to no shot attempt by the Braves to end the half.

Score: 35-28 Bosco

Third Quarter

The Braves get the ball to begin the second half, and they get yet another layup to fall with 7:25 remaining.  The Cub bench gets a technical foul as Wagner improperly enters the game, and the Braves make both technical free throws with 6:11 left.  Cox is fouled with 5:41 to go and makes both.  Cox blocks a three and the Cubs retain possession with 5:30 left; however, they are unable to capitalize on the opportunity.  The Braves make a three with 5:06 left, leading to a Cub timeout.  At this point, the Cubs trail 42-30.  Cox converts a three-point-play with 4:35 left.  Jones gets a putback layup to go with around three minutes remaining.  The Cubs get a steal right after, but Toliver misses the layup with 2:46 to go.  The Braves bury back-to-back threes at the 2:37 and 2:03 marks, respectively.  They also get a layup to go with 1:39 remaining.  There are missed shots from both teams to end the period.

Score: 50-35 Bosco

Fourth Quarter

The Braves and Jones trade triples in the opening minute.  The Braves get another three-point-play with 7:12 remaining.  Kelly makes one of two free throws with 7:03 to go, but the Cubs still trail 56-39.  He then makes a layup with 6:36 remaining.  Cox gets a LeBron-style chasedown block with 5:44 left, but a foul is called.  The Braves proceed to make a pair of free throws.  Jones drills a three with 5:33 left.  Cox makes an and-one layup but misses the following free throw with 4:40 remaining.  The Braves make two free throws with 4:11 to go.  Cox makes one of two five seconds later.  A Sampson steal leads to a Jones triple, and suddenly it’s a 10-point game, 60-50, with 3:21 left.  Jones is fouled on a three with under three minutes left, and he makes two free throws.  The Braves make a two-point jumper with 2:50 remaining, and Toliver answers with a triple ten seconds later.  The Braves make two free throws with 2:36 to go.  Cox splits two free throws with 2:28 remaining.  The Braves throw down a dunk with 2:19 left.  This sequence leads to a 66-56 Bosco lead.  Another Braves two at the 2:05 mark is followed by a Cox three ten seconds later.  Jones buries a triple with 1:35 remaining, and the Cubs have cut a 17-point lead to six, 68-62.  The Cubs get two key steals, but Bosco retains possession with 1:22 left.  After taking a timeout at the 1:09 mark, the Braves make a two with a minute to play, and Cox responds with a layup on the other end.  It’s 70-64 Braves.  The Braves call another timeout with 33.7 seconds left.  The Cubs are unable to make key shots in the final 30 seconds.  The Braves make one of two free throws at the 26-second mark, and get a layup to fall before the buzzer sounds.  Despite a hard-fought fourth quarter, the Cubs fall short in the Quarterfinal game.

FINAL: 73-64 Bosco

Stats

Three seniors led the Cubs in scoring tonight.  Jalen Cox led the way with 19 points, Parker Jones had 18, and Chase Toliver had 11.

Postgame

In the locker room, coach Powell acknowledged how the team got off to a rough start but played their best in the fourth quarter despite the outcome.  He also expressed how proud he was of his team, and though this loss will sting, there are still a lot of great memories to look back on.

The Cubs finished this season 22-7 overall, winning two tournaments (Providence and El Rancho) and finishing third in the Mission League with a 3-3 record.  They had an impressive playoff run, knocking down higher-seeded Fountain Valley and Etiwanda squads before making the Quarterfinals against Bosco.