Redlands Adventist Academy Boys Basketball Two Wins Away From CIF Title

“Two more! Two more!” shouted the crowd as the clock ran down on the Redlands Adventist Academy boys’ basketball team’s quarterfinal CIF playoff victory. The Bulldogs’ 57-43 win over Trinity Classical Academy on Tuesday moves them to just two games away from what would be their first CIF-SS Division 6A title.

“We were pretty confident going into the game because we have a good team with good chemistry and we were motivated,” said Redlands senior shooting guard Mikeal Anderson.

The Bulldogs face Boron High School on the road in the CIF 6A semifinals at 7 p.m. Friday.

More than a possible semifinal appearance motivated the Bulldogs; Tuesday night they were celebrating team captain Stephen Lawson’s birthday. RAA has made several quarterfinal appearances over the last 10 years but has yet to advance further.

“We’ve had a good year and if we play our game, I don’t think there’s a team that’s going to stop us from winning,” said RAA head coach Jason Hinkle.

Tuesday, the Bulldogs were in fine form against a young, but talented Trinity team. The Knights’ squad had no seniors as the school is only in its third year of existence, but they proved a challenge to the Bulldogs through the first and final quarters of the game. The Bulldogs struggled to avoid foul calls and the Knights were able to take advantage of the defensive slips at key moments in the game.

“The fans here were really hyping us up and we were really into the game, so we were letting our hands instead of our feet do the talking,” Anderson said.

Redlands took an early, but narrow 10-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.

“We were a little slow because we were hesitant to push … but once we really started to make the other team run up and down the court is when we got our run and our lead for the rest of the game,” Hinkle said.

The Bulldogs got off to a slow start, but they gained as much as a 17-point lead in the third quarter before the Knights made a steady climb back to within threatening distance.

The Bulldogs had multiple offensive weapons with which to attack the Knights and consistent ball movement created ample opportunities for their shooters to find the basket.

“We had good ball movement … we crashed the boards and we had faith in each other so we had no problem giving up the ball,” Anderson said.

The Knights double-teamed any Bulldog who stepped into the paint, but Redlands’ ball handlers were consistently able to get the ball back out to the open man.

“Our strength tonight was our athleticism and that’s really been our strength throughout the season. Our ability to push the ball off of turnovers and rebounds has been key in these playoffs,” Hinkle said.

At the end of the first half the Bulldogs had gained a 30-15 lead and at the end of the third quarter they were up 40-24. The Knights threatened to make a game of it again with four minutes left to play in the fourth. With Trinity suddenly showing up in the rearview mirror sophomore small forward Tino Mkorombindo quickly quashed the Knights’ hopes with a steal turned layup. Bulldog junior small forward Kamaal Thomas added another basket to once again put double digits between them and the Knights.

Thomas scored 17 points for the Bulldogs and teammates Mikeal Anderson and Mkorombindo had 14 and 10 points, respectively.

“I honestly think we have a chance. If we get out there and play the game our coaches taught us and use the talents God blessed us with, then anything is possible,” Anderson said.