5-A BOYS : El Toro Finds It’s Hot Outside, 85-76

LAGUNA HILLS —  Cajon High School Coach Mark Lehman was well aware of El Toro’s outside shooting before their Southern Section 5-A quarterfinal playoff game Tuesday night. But when El Toro struggled from the perimeter in the first half, Lehman felt fortunate.

His feeling didn’t last.

Sparked by the outside shooting of guards Kevin Martin and Rob Johnson, El Toro held off Cajon, 85-76, at Laguna Hills High School. The Chargers (22-5) will meet Mater Dei in the semifinals Friday night.

The significance of the win wasn’t lost on El Toro Coach Tim Travers, who walked calmly into his team’s locker room before shouting, “Final Four, baby.” Travers said Friday night’s game will mark the first time El Toro has reached the playoff semifinals.

“The mood of this team is the best it has been all year,” Travers said. “I think we’re playing real good basketball. We saved our best for last.”

Just as El Toro, shooting about 39% of from three-point range during the season, saved its best outside shooting for the second half. The Chargers made only two of eight three-pointers in the first half, but thanks to a strong inside game, they led, 36-34, at halftime.

In the second half, El Toro was 15 of 26 from the field, including six of 11 three-pointers.

“Outside shooters are usually streaky and they got a streak going,” Lehman said. “They weren’t hitting those shots in the first half. We had a guy right on them. We couldn’t have played any better defense.”

Despite foul trouble in the first half--three starters had three fouls by halftime--Cajon rallied from deficits of 11 points in the second half and 10 points in the third quarter to keep the game close.

Two free throws by Cajon guard Amar Washington, who scored a game-high 29 points, tied the game, 66-66, with about five minutes left.

But three-pointers by Johnson, who scored 27 points, and Martin gave El Toro a 72-70 lead. Another basket by Johnson pushed the lead to four points and Cajon (23-4) came no closer the rest of the way. The Chargers clinched the win by making nine of their last 10 free throws in the final two minutes.

“I didn’t think they could defend us,” Travers said. “It wasn’t a defensive struggle, but we played better defense than they did.”

“They gave us a lot of gaps inside and we tried to take advantage of those,” said El Toro forward Greg Everett, who finished with 15 points. “And our outside shooting came through.”

Such shooting will be needed against Mater Dei (28-1). Everett said he knows what to expect from the Monarchs, who finished the regular season as the county’s top-ranked team.

“They’re just tough everywhere,” he said.