EL SEGUNDO The jubilation was real. The celebrations were earnest. The emotions were raw.
The El Segundo basketball team advanced to its first CIF Southern Section final since 2002 with a commanding 74-41 semifinal victory over Buckley Friday in the Division 5AA semifinal and is now just one victory away from the first CIF crown since 1963.
Amid the postgame hoopla, El Segundo’s Shane Biscaya pointed to the school’s lone CIF basketball championship banner and embraced the magnitude of the moment.
“You see that banner – it says 1963. That’s crazy,” Biscaya said.
The Eagles embraced each other, hugged their family and friends and came together for photos on the court.
Just a year ago, El Segundo went winless in the Pioneer League.
Buoyed by three local transfers into its small-town, close-knit team, El Segundo embarked on a surreal season in which the Eagles earned a share of the Pioneer League title and cruised through the Division 5-AA playoffs with a 31.5 average margin of victory.
El Segundo (23-9) will take on Castaic Friday or Saturday next week at a site and time to be determined with a chance to make a historical impact.
“It’s been a four-year buy-in,” first-year El Segundo head coach Scott Martin, who has been part of the program for the past 10 years, said. “El Segundo is a tight-knit community, and part of our success has been our chemistry. They grew up together, and they do a lot of things off the court together.
“We put guys on the floor who are unselfish. They find the open guy and they play for each other.”
El Segundo used its camaraderie to seamlessly blend in three transfers before the season: Biscaya (Redondo), Darreson Naruse (Loyola) and Vitor Dorn (Mira Costa).
The team bonded over basketball trips to Santa Barbara and Palm Springs and had several team dinners and even a bowling outing.
“Everyone was so welcoming,” Biscaya said. “We bonded really well.”
It was a historic game in which everyone put their stamp for El Segundo.
El Segundo’s balanced attack featured 10 different scorers.
While Biscaya (17 points), Elijah Coles (14 points) and Jack Pintens (12 points) keyed the offensive attack, there were certainly feel-good moments like Keith Puckett taking a charge late in the third quarter and Timmy Anderson juking a defender that left the entire bench in stitches at the end of the game.
“Going from two straight losing seasons to this turnaround, it means a lot,” Pintens said. “To see so many people in the crowd, to see my guys on the court, it’s a great community. We deserve this moment.”
Logan Brooks added eight points, and Naruse and Gavin McKinnon each scored six points for El Segundo. Noah Jonas led Buckley (19-11) with 10 points, and Edward Zilberberg scored nine points.
El Segundo trailed Buckley 11-9 late in the first quarter, but Coles hit four consecutive free throws, Naruse scored on a scoop shot and Nader Esdin hit a runner in the final 2:48 of the first quarter to give El Segundo a 17-11 lead.
From there, the Eagles never relented.
“We started to pressure them and pushed to a faster paced game, and we knew we had the horses to run away with it,’ Naruse said.
Biscaya said El Segundo is ready to embrace the moment at the CIF finals next week.
“I’ve never won anything before. This is a new feeling,” Biscaya said. “We want to win CIF and state, and we want to win for this city and get a parade just like the Little Leaguers.”