Sage Hill boys’ basketball into CIF semifinals on James Karahalios’ OT winner
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Sage Hill hasn’t scored much in the postseason, but that has hardly been reason to panic.
A lock-down defense has given the Lightning a chance every night, and it was just what Sage Hill needed down the stretch on Tuesday against Tustin.
Sage Hill got the timely baskets when it needed them at the end of regulation and overtime, as the Lightning edged the second-seeded Tillers 43-39 in a CIF Southern Section Division 3AA boys’ basketball quarterfinal game at home.
Senior guard James Karahalios stepped into a jumper from the right elbow for the game-winning shot with 2.5 seconds left.
“All my boys were battling, game going back and forth, and then we just needed to make a play,” said Karahalios, who had a game-high 16 points and seven rebounds. “Our coach told us just put the ball in my hands and run a ball screen, and have our shooters in the corner, so we pulled our guys over. I come off [the screen], guy’s on my hip, I just raise over him, bump into him, just get a jumper, game-winning shot. …
“That’s just how playoff basketball goes. You just got to fight, and you got to keep fighting until you win.”
Sage Hill (17-9) will host San Gabriel Academy (16-12) in the semifinals on Saturday at 7 p.m., looking to advance to its second section final in three years and third overall.
“It’s very satisfying,” said Karahalios, reflecting on the Lightning losing to eventual champion La Habra in the same round in the same division a year ago. “I wish my boys from last year could experience the same thing.”
The Lightning have never won a CIF title in boys’ basketball, finishing as the runner-up to Oxnard Santa Clara in Division 5AA in 2019 and to Long Beach Jordan in Division 4A in 2023.
Tustin (24-7), the Empire League champion, held the largest lead of the game at 32-25 heading into the fourth quarter. From there, Sage Hill allowed just seven points for the remainder of regulation and overtime, fewer than it had allowed in any other quarter.
“It’s kind of our thing,” Sage Hill coach D’Cean Bryant said. “If we don’t score, you don’t score. You just got to toughen up, you got to get stops, you got to get on the floor, you got to be the first guy to get to the loose ball, you got to just grind it out.”
Senior Jackson Cryst, a 6-foot-10 center committed to Long Beach State for men’s volleyball, had much to do with that. Cryst scored 11 points, adding nine rebounds and four rejections at the rim.
Freshman guard Tolu Akomolafe added seven rebounds and two blocked shots in helping to supply the interior defensive presence.
Sophomore guard Tre Cradle, who struggled with foul trouble, had just one basket before his number was called with the game on the line. The Lightning inbounded in front of their bench, getting the ball to Cradle in the high post. With his back to the basket, Cradle turned around for a shot in the lane, and it settled in the hoop to tie the score at 37-37 with five seconds left.
Sage Hill may have gotten a break after that. As the Lightning rebounded a shot in the final seconds of regulation, sophomore guard Charles Gomez motioned for a timeout with his hands. Sage Hill had none remaining, but the timeout — that would have resulted in a technical foul — wasn’t called, and the ball was knocked out of Cradle’s hands and out of bounds instead.
Gomez had seven points and three steals, his night including a three-pointer on the first possession of the fourth quarter that immediately closed the gap back to a manageable two-possession game.
In an interesting oddity, Sage Hill has allowed exactly 39 points in each of its wins this postseason, a fact not lost among the Lightning and their coaching staff.
“You know what’s funny? … We’re kind of like the guys, we just deal with the game as is. We don’t get caught up in things that could be, that shouldn’t be,” Bryant said. “We’re just going to play the game, and the fact that [the scoreboard] said 39, we was like, ‘Wait a minute. Wait a minute.’
“One of my assistants pointed it out, and we was just like, ‘Oh, that’s three games in a row.’”
Senior wing Daniel Molina had 11 points, including a trio of three-pointers, to pace Tustin. Senior guard Yuri Klines added nine points and two steals. Senior guard Ethan Contreras contributed six points, three assists and three steals, and sophomore center Taven Epps pulled down 11 rebounds off the bench.
“One thing you have to give [Sage Hill] congratulations for, or credit for, we thought we were wearing them down,” Tustin coach Ringo Bossenmeyer said. “I thought they were gassed at a couple different points, but in the fourth quarter, they found another gear.”
Bossenmeyer expressed pride in the leadership shown by his senior-laden group, one that helped the program to its first league championship in eight years and its most wins in a single season since 2015.
“There’s a lot of true, true disappointment right now, but in time we’ll be able to reflect on all the positive things we did over the season and reflect about the lifelong relationships we built,” Bossenmeyer said. “In a time like this, it’s hard for teenage young men, much less adults. To get to that point, you’re just disappointed when it comes to an end, and you’re never mentally prepared for it.”
CIF Southern Section Division 3AA playoffs
Sage Hill 43, Tustin 39
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Tustin 10 - 9 - 13 - 5 - 2 — 39
Sage Hill 7 - 7 - 11 - 12 - 6 — 43
T — Molina 11, Klines 9, Contreras 6, T. Morales 6, Epps 2, Hernandez 2, Kong 2, Hampton 1.
3-pt. goals — Molina 3.
Fouled out — None.
Technicals — None.
SH — Karahalios 16, Cryst 11, Gomez 7, Cradle 4, Ellis 3, To. Akomolafe 2.
3-pt. goals — Ellis 1, Gomez 1.
Fouled out — None.
Technicals — None.
Also in the CIF Southern Section boys’ basketball playoffs:
Pacifica Christian 54, San Juan Hills 38: Senior guard EJ Spillman had 16 points, eight rebounds and five assists to lead the host Tritons past the Stallions on Tuesday in a Division 2AA quarterfinal game.
Junior guard Joaquin Rigdon scored 12 points for Pacifica Christian (22-7), which travels to Corona Centennial (17-16) for its semifinal game on Friday at 7 p.m. Senior forward Logan Stewart added eight points, eight rebounds and four steals.
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