SANTA ANA — Long Beach Poly senior guard Gabriel Cummings has been patiently waiting for this moment and when he got it, he made the most of it.
Cummings scored a game-high 25 points, including 16 in the third quarter, to power Poly to a 50-45 win at Foothill in the CIF Southern Section Division 2AA semifinals on Tuesday night.
“I started cold. I was 0-4 in the first half. I just knew my team needed me,” Cummings said. “Foothill is a great team. To win, everyone had to show out and play their best… I saw they were leaving me open so I just took advantage of the shots they gave me and I made them.”
Poly (22-5) will play at Village Christian of Sun Valley for the 2AA championship on Friday, Feb. 25, at 7 p.m.
Long Beach Poly senior guard Gabriel Cummings said the rim looked like an “ocean” when he dropped 16 of his game high 25 points in the 3rd quarter against Foothill. Poly won 50-45. @GabrielC21 @LBPolyHoop @BeachVarsity @ocvarsity pic.twitter.com/ND2m2YBpLO
— John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) February 23, 2022
Foothill (27-3) played inspired basketball from the opening tip, jumping out to 6-0 lead, forcing Poly to call time out with 5:42 left in the first quarter.
“It’s always good going on the road, hostile environment,” said Long Beach Poly coach Shelton Diggs. “We play well on the road.”
The Jackrabbits were able to regroup and took a 12-10 lead into the second quarter.
Long Beach Poly boys basketball coach Shelton Diggs said it’s Poly vs. the world in the CIF Southern Section Division 2AA semifinals on the road against Foothill. @ocvarsity @BeachVarsity @LBPolyHoop pic.twitter.com/vAzyCiSFL3
— John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) February 23, 2022
At halftime, the Knights’ defense, which was energized by the student section, propelled them to a 24-22 lead, behind the strong play of Foothill senior point guard Cruz Billings who scored all 10 of his points in the first half.
Foothill senior center Braedyn Bernhard also had 10 points at halftime. The 6-foot-7 Bernhard, who finished with 16 points, had a size advantage inside against Poly senior forward Marcel Hayes, who is 6-foot-4.
Poly freshman guard Jovani Ruff had 8 of his 10 points in the first half to pace the Jackrabbits.
It was a 3-pointer by Cummings that put the Jackrabbits up 25-24 to begin the second half.
Another big 3 by Cummings extended Poly’s lead to 30-24. Cummings continued his strong quarter with an and-one and a layup to put Poly up 35-26 with four minutes left in the third quarter.
“(The rim) looked like an ocean. I couldn’t miss,” explained Cummings, who scored 16 points in the third quarter.
However, what was even more impressive than the Jackrabbits’ offense was their defense, which gave up only four points in the first five minutes of the third quarter.
Meanwhile, the Knights battled back. Poly led 42-39 heading into the fourth quarter.
Foothill coach Yousof Etemadi said the game was huge for the school and the surrounding community, especially since the Knights had not played at home since the first round of the playoffs on Feb. 11.
“We haven’t ducked and dodged from anybody,” said Etemadi regarding the Knights’ schedule. “We’ve had a pretty decent group for a couple years now and we wanted to test them early. Our league is really tough and we wanted to prepare for the playoffs.”
Foothill boys basketball coach Yousof Etemadi believes his team’s defense will be the key to success against Long Beach Poly in the CIF Southern Section Division 2AA semifinals. @ocvarsity @BeachVarsity pic.twitter.com/lBdqj7SL3G
— John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) February 23, 2022
“We play together,” Etemadi continued. “The kids like each other. Great chemistry. We play together and we share the ball and we have a different guy step up every night. Everybody is a big piece of what we do.”
Before tipoff, Etemadi said his team’s defense would be the difference against Poly.
In the fourth quarter, Foothill’s defense stood tall. Poly would only score eight points in the final eight minutes.
However, the Jackrabbits relied on their championship-level defense, which only gave six points in the last eight minutes of the game.
Late in the fourth quarter, Foothill took a 45-42 lead on a tough basket by senior guard Jacob Horton.
The Knights were up 45-43 with 1:27 left when Ruff stepped to the free-throw line. The 6-foot-5 freshman made both free throws to tie the game at 45.
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Cummings hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with less than a minute to go, putting Poly up 48-45.
“We haven’t won anything yet,” Cummings explained. “We’re going to the championship game, but we still have to win that game so we have one more left to win that game and win the (CIF-SS Division 2AA) championship and bring it home to Poly. It’s been a couple of years since we won one and I really want my senior year to mean something to the history of Poly.”