Las Positas Men Enjoy A 'Three' Party In Playoff Win

By Phil Jensen

Special to Las Positas Athletics

The first points of the game for the Las Positas men’s basketball team on Thursday night foreshadowed their performance in an 86-76 victory over visiting Porterville.

Malik Jackson, a Dublin High graduate, sank a 3-pointer for those points, one of 11 3-pointers for the Hawks in this CCCAA Northern California Regional second-round game.

“The amount of three’s that we made was a huge factor," Las Positas coach James Giacomazzi said. “We didn’t want to negate our size, but we knew that they would focus so much on that interior that we tried to just drive a strong side and get it to the weak side.”

Dathan Satchell, out of Modesto Christian High School, led Las Positas with four three-pointers for all of his 12 points. Jorren Edmonds, out of Washington High, scored nine of his 13 points on 3-pointers for the Hawks. He also grabbed seven rebounds.
Las Positas’ 3-point shooting opened up the lane for Jackson, who scored a season-high 21 points, to go with six rebounds and four assists in a great all-around game.

“The way they were playing us, they were kind of denying our shooters in the corner, they were leaving me one-on-one, so I had to take my opportunity to attack the basket,” Jackson said.

Las Positas (26-3), the No. 5 seed, will travel to play No. 4 Columbia (24-5) in a third-round game on Saturday at 7 p.m., in a condensed playoff format. The Hawks are a win away from reaching the state championships for the first time.

Giacomazzi knows the next round will be a challenge away from home.

"They’ve had great wins all year. They’re just a tenacious, tough, gritty team, and I just think it’s going to be a good game. And they’re really good at home,” Giacomazzi said of the Claim Jumpers.

Porterville (21-7), the No. 12 seed, caused lots of problems for Las Positas in the first 10 minutes, scoring the first five points of the game and holding a 20-13 advantage. But Jackson started an 8-0 run for Las Positas with a drive for a basket. Edmonds ended the run with a 3-pointer for a 21-20 Hawks lead.

“I think it was just getting a rhythm,” said Giacomazzi of his team’s play early. “I thought Porterville did a good job of attacking us and were really aggressive, and even though we knew what they were going to do, they did it much faster and much more aggressive than we anticipated.

"The more the game wore on, we got a little bit more comfortable with the pace, and then we were able to kind of dictate the pace a little more," the coach continued.

Las Positas took the lead for good on a 3-pointer by Nikko Echalas for a 26-24 advantage with 8:23 left in the first half. Echalas, a sophomore from Arroyo High, scored seven points and had three rebounds and three assists.

“I thought the minutes Nikko gave us off the bench were tremendous,” Giacomazzi said. “Nikko steadied us a little bit when it was a little bit choppy, and I thought his defense was good.”

A Jackson drive and layup with 5:54 left in the first half helped break open a close game, starting an 11-4 Hawks' run to end the half. Las Positas led 59-50 with 11:59 left in the game before two free throws by Jackson started a 14-4 Las Positas run, and the Hawks led by at least nine points the rest of the game. Two free throws by Lee Jones Jr. (Serra) with 14.9 seconds left gave the Hawks a 84-73 lead, icing the win.

Las Positas’ Jordahn Johnson (Weston Ranch High), who entered the game with a state-leading 75.6 field-goal percentage, had 12 points and seven rebounds along with two blocks. Brandon Fisher (Sheldon High) added a team-high three blocks.
Porterville, which had eight three-pointers, was paced by Isaiah Josue and Alberto Laureano, who both had 16 points.