9 hours Ago By John Murphy
SAN BERNARDINO — Vincent Warsaw swished a 3-pointer and made a swan’s neck’s with his wrist and hand, showing how he followed through. It was not the only sweet shot, as the Aquinas boys basketball team rained 3-pointers on Keppel throughout the second half. The result was a 62-38 victory for the Falcons in a CIF Southern Section Division 3A semifinal game.
Aquinas (17-16) advanced and will meet San Dimas in the championship game Friday, Feb. 28 or Saturday, March 1 at a site and time to be determined. The Falcons made seven second-half 3s and outscored Keppel 25-13 in the third quarter to blow a six-point game wide open.
“We came out to punch them in the throat,” said Warsaw who led all scorers with 21 points while making five 3-pointers. Warsaw ended the third quarter by pulling up from 28 feet and tossing in a desperation 3-pointer to increase Aquinas’ lead to 47-29. The shot sent the Falcons soaring into the fourth quarter and was the death knell for Keppel, though the Aztecs (26-6) kept fighting.
Even though Warsaw was a mile from the basket, he insisted practice was the key to making the shot. “Oh, that’s just me putting in hard work,” he said. “I practice that shot every day.
” Then in the final minute, with his team ahead by a bundle, Warsaw strutted his stuff one more time. He glided through the paint, maneuvered the ball behind his back and made a slick lay-in as Falcon fans howled. “I ain’t gonna lie,” Warsaw said.
“I didn’t have that move. I just practiced it today and put it in my bag.” Aquinas’ bag fairly bulged against Keppel.
The Aztecs already had the difficult task of containing Aquinas 7-foot-1 junior Jumaa Kitendo. The towering Kitendo, a native of Tanzania, played junior varsity last season at JSerra before transferring. “We wanted to take away the inside, but Aquinas hit a lot of outside shots,” Keppel coach Hung Duong said.
“They were just relentless. They play hard and they out-(muscled) us today.” Perimeter shooting was the key, said Aquinas coach Daryl Pegram, a one-time Miller High standout and former San Bernardino High coach.
“We came out in the second half thinking outside shot, because Keppel plays an excellent backline defense,” Pegram said. “We told to take some outside shots, and if we miss them, get the offensive rebound.” All but one Keppel player is less than 6 feet tall.
But the Aztecs found some amazing ways to launch lay-ups over Kitendo and his teammates. Chris Contreras was especially effective for Keppel and led the Aztecs with 16 points. Maddux Hang and Jimmy Osorio contributed eight points each.
Also pacing Aquinas besides Warsaw, were LJ Hall with 10 points, JuJu Mareno with nine points and Malachi Jones with eight. Aquinas now advances to the finals for the sixth time in school history and will try to become the first team to win a section title since 2021, when it nabbed the Division 3A championship. It also won a CIF State regional title that season.
“We’re ready for it,” Jones said. “We talk about it every day. Now we have a week’s rest and then we’ll try to bring it home for the city and the Inland Empire.
” Keppel is not done either, as its semifinal berth advances it to the CIF State playoffs.
