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ORANGE — Orange Lutheran and Edison split two highly-entertaining football games in the fall, including a playoff matchup decided by one point.
The schools’ rivalry shifted to boys basketball on Friday with several of the same student-athletes clashing in the second round of the CIF-SS Division 2AA playoffs at Orange Lutheran High.
And after 48 minutes of intense, back-and-forth play, the schools settled on another game decided by a single point:
Orange Lutheran 60, Edison 59.
“That is crazy,” said Lancers football coach Rod Sherman, whose team edged the Edison 38-37 in the first round of the Division 1 playoffs by stopping a 2-point conversion on the final play.
The basketball edition was just as dramatic with senior Cannon Potter sinking two free throws for Orange Lutheran (18-10) with 8.2 seconds left in regulation for a 60-56 lead. Edison (20-10) fought until the final buzzer with sophomore Jayden Oei draining a 3-pointer to cap a 15-point outburst in the fourth period.
Several Orange Lutheran football players celebrated on the floor with the fifth-seeded Lancers, who will play at No. 4 Rancho Cucamonga in the quarterfinals Tuesday.
“I wish it wasn’t a one-point, drag-out game but Edison did a great job,” said Lancers coach Daniel Dunbar, whose team led by as many as nine points but couldn’t land the knockout blow. “They competed really hard. (Qei) hit some really big shots and they didn’t quit.”
Neither did the Lancers.
Point guard Zion Paleo provided one of the best examples. After Edison missed two foul shots to tie the score at 56-56 with 1:32 left, Paleo drove to the basket but had his shot blocked. The sophomore, however, stuck with the play, stealing the ball in the backcourt and driving for the layup to make it 58-54 with 1:01 remaining.
“I just kept fighting through it and did the best of my ability to get the ball back,” Paleo said of the play that capped his game-high 22 point performance. “It’s a big game but we can’t just stick on this game. We have to focus on our next game and be ready.”
Senior David Manea supported Paleo by scoring all 12 of his points in the second half. Javon Smith chipped in 11 points, including consecutive 3-pointers in the second period that provide a brief, eight-point cushion. Center John Gazzaniga added eight rebounds and three of his four blocks in the second half.
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Edison, ranked 13th in Division 2AA, stayed close despite losing its center Dane Johnson late in the first half to a blow to the nose. Kaz Hampton, coming off a school-record nine 3-pointers against Villa Park in the first round, left late with an ankle injury. The junior finished with six points on a pair of 3-pointers.
Dylan Hugues paced Edison with 17 points. Point guard Cong-ly Tu came off the bench to score 12 points, and helped the Chargers push the tempo late in the came. And Tucker Tripp added nine points and two blocks.
“I’m just proud how hard they battled. They never gave up,” Edison coach Rich Boyce said. “We were right there.”