Too much to handle

HESPERIA • A nationally ranked basketball power visited Hesperia High School on Friday night. For about 13 minutes, they didn’t look much different from the hometown underdogs.

Dominguez/Compton, No. 16 in the USA Today Super 25 Rankings, shook off a slow start to beat Hesperia 86-48 in the second round of the CIF-Southern Section Division I-AA playoffs in front of a packed house at Hesperia.

The unseeded Scorpions (18-7) trailed by just four points before the Dons (24-5) went on a 13-0 run to end the first half and a 15-4 run to begin the second half.

“Dominguez is ranked for a reason,” Hesperia head coach Sergio Lugo said. “They’re solid.”

Dominguez has won 10 Southern Section titles and six state championships since 1988 and has had stars such as Tyson Chandler of the New Orleans Hornets and Tayshaun Prince of the Detroit Pistons. This year’s Dons are seeded No. 3 in Division I-AA, but they struggled for much of the first half on Friday.

Though Dominguez had a size advantage at every position, the Scorpions did an admirable job of matching the Dons’ speed and intensity early on. But neither team could score. While Hesperia was missing open jumpers, the Dons had trouble executing on fast breaks, including off-target passes, missed lay-ups and a missed dunk. Dominguez led 14-6 after one quarter.

“I think we were a little amped up (early on),” Dominguez coach Duane Cooper said. “(Hesperia) played hard, they played together. They gave us good effort, and the crowd really kept them in the game for a little bit.”

A.J. Mathis led Hesperia with 17 points despite picking up three early fouls and sitting out the last 51⁄2 minutes of the first half. Even with Mathis on the bench, Hesperia made it a game in the second quarter.

Ronnie White, a 5-foot-6 senior guard, got the crowd roaring with a four-point play to open the second quarter. White juked a Dominguez defender, who fell down but recovered in time to foul White on his 3-point attempt, which went in. White sank the free-throw to make it a four-point game.

Charles Nickerberry hit a 3-pointer later in the quarter, and Sergio Lugo hit a 3 to make the score 26-22 with 3:05 to play in the half. Hesperia went ice cold thereafter, as Scorpions turnovers resulted in fast-break points for the Dons. Dominguez built a 39-22 lead by halftime and continued the domination in the third quarter.

“When we cut it to four, instead of trying to run some time off the clock and stay within striking distance, we tried to jack up shots and do too much too quickly,” said Lugo, the Hesperia coach.

Mathis keyed a 9-2 Hesperia run at the end of the third with a 3-pointer, a dunk and a lay-up, making it 59-31, but Hesperia wouldn’t get any closer.

White scored 11 points for Hesperia, and Jay Waddell led the team with six rebounds. Dominguez junior Keala King led all scorers with 29 points.

Hesperia captured a Mojave River League title this season and won a playoff game despite its promotion to the Southern Section’s highest division, beating No. 14 Santiago/Corona 69-63 in overtime on Wednesday.

“We were the only unseeded team in this division to beat a seeded team (in the first round),” Lugo said. “We have a lot to be proud of.”

DOMINGUEZ (86)
King 29, Green 10, Moody 10, Espy 9, Warren 9, Hays 5, Lacoste 5, Mandigo 4, Pelle 3, Smith 2.
HESPERIA (48)
Mathis 17, White 11, Waddell 4, Harriman 3, Lugo 3, Nickerberry 3, Puckett 3, Sheldon 2, Venegas 2.

Dominguez 14 25 22 25 — 86
Hesperia 6 16 17 9 — 48

3-point field goals — Dominguez 6 (Moody 2, Espy, Hays, King, Lacoste); Hesperia 6 (White 2, Harriman, Lugo, Mathis, Nickerberry).

Kris Reilly is the sports editor of the Daily Press. He can be reached at 951-6274 or at kreilly@vvdailypress.com.