Prep Boys Basketball: Broncos first-year coach no stranger to rivalry with Titans
Friday night will be Marc Basehore’s first game as a varsity head coach in a Rancho Bernardo-Poway High boys basketball Palomar League showdown (tip at 7 p.m. at Poway High).
But the first-year leader of the Broncos’ program is no stranger to how intense of a rivalry it is and how these games are often decided late in the fourth quarter.
Basehore, who played basketball at and graduated from Rancho Bernardo in 2001, did not take long to bring up a particular memory he has stored away from his junior season with the Broncos.
“I still remember Tony Gwynn Jr. banking in a half-court shot at the buzzer to beat us my junior year,” he said. “This is the first time I have ever coached in this game, but I have been a part of them as a player and they are games guys on both teams are going to remember for a long time.”
The most recent memory for the Broncos are a pair of lopsided 67-46 losses a season ago. The Titans rolled to easy victories in those games and are expecting a fired up Rancho Bernardo team Friday night as a result.
“They beat us pretty good in the summer and they were a lot more fired up than we were at that time,” Poway coach Scott Fisher said. “I think the team that plays harder will have a better chance to come out on top.”
Both teams feature an array of star players. Poway is led by Seton Hall-bound wing Dalton Soffer. The 6-foot, 5-inch senior has the ability to get points in the paint and knock down the shot from beyond the arc. Slowing him down will need to be a priority for the Broncos.
“We are going to try to stay attached to him and keep the ball out of his hands as much as possible,” Basehore said. “He can just totally go off in a quarter and change the whole game, so we definitely want to keep the ball out of his hands.”
Matt Beeler, a 6-8 senior forward, could be another matchup problem for Rancho Bernardo. The Broncos’ tallest player comes in at 6-4. But Rancho Bernardo is athletic and could push the tempo to help offset the height advantage of the Titans.
Nobody has enjoyed that style of play more than sophomore JJ Overton. The 6-4 guard can stop on the break and knock down a 3 or finish at the rim. He, Devin Goodloe, Beni Mokili and Michael Langford have been doing most of the damage for the Broncos this season.
Both teams can shoot it well from 3-point land, but Fisher hopes this game comes down to more than a shootout.
“I hope we play better basketball than that,” he said. “I hope it comes down to who is the better basketball team. I hope there is more to it than who is the better 3-point shooting team.”
Girls: The Broncos are still looking for their first win against the Titans since 2011. They will have a chance to get it Friday, when the two rivals meet for the first time in Palomar League play at Poway at 5:30 p.m.
Poway (15-6, 1-2) has won six straight and 19 of the last 20 against Rancho Bernardo (9-6, 0-3). The Broncos are led by 6-foot sophomore Aly Murray, who is averaging 18.6 points per game.
The Titans are led by point guard Sierra Claudio and posts Riley Johnson and Erin Brunansky.