Rialto High School cruises through CIF-SS playoffs

Rialto High School Boys Varsity Basketball team finished in first place in the CIF San Andreas League. They are sharing this honor with Eisenhower High School this year as both teams finished 9-1 and split the league series with Rialto winning one game and Eisenhower winning the other.

Head coach Troy Holland said that his team really works hard to perform their best each game. They are a smaller team with the tallest player standing at 6’2”. They play a fast game and full court pressure the entire game. They rely on speed to get fast break points from their talented guards and shoot a lot of three-pointers.

This young team only has two seniors, which means that players are still in the learning phase; it also means that they will be back next year with a cohesive team that knows each other and gets along well. Rialto High School has made it into the playoffs for the last three years now and this year they seem poised to go deep into the CIF playoffs.

On Friday, Feb. 8 Rialto took on the Ontario High Jaguars. Rialto got off to a slow start but kept pace with the Jaguars finishing the first quarter 14-14. After that the Rialto Knights began to slip past the Jaguars ending the half 26-22.

Head Coach Troy Holland said that an “extended gap between the end of the season and the beginning of the playoffs had his 3-point shooters a little off their game.”

Starting the second half #10 Anthony Quintero who never gave up on his shot began to sink some of his 3-point shots. The stars of the game were #3 Josiah Taylor the player who ran the ball and according to coach Holland plays most positions on the floor, and #2 Keshon McCoy who ripped up and down the home hardwood. By the end of the third quarter the Knights were pulling farther and farther ahead with a 44-27 lead over the Jaguars. The game ended 65-43 in favor of the Rialto Knights who led the scoring battle every single quarter.