Athletics
Jaguar Athletics
Boys Varsity Basketball Quarterfinal Result
The Boys Varsity Basketball team's season ends on a stunner of a game in the quarterfinals, 70-74
de Toledo 70 - Western Christian 74
de Toledo closed their season with their best performance to date, dropping a nail-biter to Western Christian by four points. The back-and-forth game was a cinematic flurry, much to the delight of the players, the coaches, and the lucky spectators. The game environment itself did not feel life-like, rather it felt staged by the greatest directors with the whole range of human emotions crammed into 32 minutes of play. Neither team could muster a stranglehold on the emotional and physical momentum, as the two teams constantly one-upped one another’s prior possession. The combination of the psychological and the athletic prowess displayed on the night is the perfect formula, as one spectator noted, for “real high school basketball”.
The first quarter set the tone for the rest of the game, as the teams played to a close tilt with Western Christian taking a two-point lead at the end of the quarter. Western Christian’s full-court press defense foiled de Toledo in the early stages of the quarter, forcing turnovers that led to easy conversions. Once the Jaguars were able to solve the riddle of the press, they created odd man rushes to the offensive end, finding the open man for quality shots.
The second quarter mimicked the first, as neither team separated themselves on the court nor on the scoreboard. The Jaguars took a two-point lead into the half, as Liam Evenhaim’s three-pointer sunk in tune with the buzzer, quieting the raucous home crowd. The Western Christian fanbase was shocked that their team, one that had yet to play a close game in the postseason and that had won by 66 points in the opening round, were not pulling away from de Toledo and in fact, were down at the midpoint.
The third frame brought much of the same, however, each team made a distinct run during the quarter, for the first time in the game, that had their fans and coaches believing that they had finally turned the corner. After Western Christian made a push to take an eight-point lead, their fans and players showed a discernible ease and happiness that arrived too soon. The resilient de Toledo squad saw this run as an aberration, and not the new landscape of the game. The Jaguars then went on a scoring spree of their own, cutting Western Christian’s lead to one point at the end of the quarter.
The fourth quarter brought the same quality of play teamed with the intensity of a close match in an elimination scenario. The teams were going at each other tit for tat for the first five minutes of the quarter before Western Christian began to muscle inside the paint for a seven-point lead. Their fans sat comfortably in the stands, thinking that the Jaguars would not be able to close the gap, but that kind of thinking is dangerous, especially in a game such as this. Soon thereafter, comfort turned into queasiness for the Western Christian fans and players, as de Toledo began hitting high-percentage three-point shots to narrow the lead. Jack Bromberg’s two deep shots from the corner, brought the Jaguars within two points with under five seconds remaining. Western Christian heaved the ball from out of bounds to half-court with their guard skying high to grasp the ball at its peak. However, on the way down, the guard could not get his footing, prompting the referee to call traveling. Knowing that Western Christian was likely to pick up on the de Toledo side of the court, the coaches called for a pass from the baseline to the half-court line to theoretically ensure that the Jaguars would have enough time to take a couple dribbles before thrusting a miracle shot in the air. In practice, de Toledo was able to in-bound the ball, but there was a pack of Western Christian defenders in the area that prevented the Jaguars from clamping down on the ball, leading to a scramble for the ball that ended on a foul call on de Toledo. Western Christian ensuingly hit two free throws to put the cap on the game.
The Jaguars marvelled their opponents and their fans with their shooting acumen throughout all four quarters. The team shot a dazzling 58% from three-point distance, with the deep shot accounting for 15 of the team’s 23 made field goals in the game. Whether it was Evenhaim, Bromberg, Dylan Esulin, or Aidan Nussbaum, the long-distance shot was the team’s forte, as the basketball barely tickled the twine on its way down. de Toledo also proved to be stellar from the charity strike, shooting 82% from the line. Evenhaim was the catalyst for that proficiency, converting 7-of-8 free throw attempts. The de Toledo defense were up to the task of fronting the best athletes they had played all season. When Western Christian found a way to break down the guard play, the back end players stepped up to force wild close-range shots. The Jaguars truly played a complete game, competing on both ends of the court with their season on the line.
Evenhaim threw his complete self into what turned out to be his final game, mesmerizing the crowd with 29 points and 11 rebounds. Anytime the Jaguars needed a key bucket, they were able to rely on Evenhaim to convert one, leading Western Christian’s Athletic Director to say, “that guy can ball” after the game ended. Although Evenhaim, and the rest of the Jaguars, would have preferred to play another day, Evenhaim should feel good about how he capped his career with one of, if not, his best showing. Aidan Waldman had the unenviable task of fronting a quick and flashy point guard that was keyed on by the coaching staff through scouting. Waldman did not let the guard speed by him by showing his own lateral quickness, shuffling side-to-side without a hitch in his step. Waldman’s grit continued on the offensive end as he proved himself to be the best point guard on the court that night, steadily breaking the full court pressure and finding his teammates for wide open gimmies. Dylan Esulin play with a cool, calm, and clutch demeanor, stroking a perfect long ball on the night (3-3 3pt). Esulin sunk shots when the Jaguars needed it the most, at the tail end of Western Christian’s scoring runs. Jack Bromberg hit two monumental three-pointers in the fourth quarter to keep the game within reach. The Lancers were not quick enough to close on Bromberg, who made them pay with four threes that disheartened the Western Christian crowd.
At the end of the game, the Western Christian Athletic Director and a staunch fan of theirs approached me, speaking of our team as highly as they possibly could. They noted the team’s talent and tenacity without compromising their values, in direct alignment with what the program preaches. It really was that kind of night for the Jaguars, who played the game with greatness through and through.
Located in the San Fernando Valley portion of the City of Los Angeles in Northern Los Angeles County. de Toledo High School is accredited by the California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS), the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) and Builders of Jewish Education (BJE,) and financially supported by the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles and the Jim Joseph Foundation.
