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CIF boys basketball semifinals at home Tuesday

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As top seed in the Division III CIF boys basketball playoffs, Ramona High received home games throughout the semifinals. The Bulldogs will play Bonita Vista in the Bulldog gymnasium at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 1.

If the Bulldogs prevailed they will play Friday afternoon at the University of San Diego’s Jenny Craig Pavilion against the other team that reached the championship level.

“These boys are hungry. They want more,” said coach Zack Cole.

“Show up and support our incredible team as they look to move on to Friday’s CIF finals,” said Damon Baldwin, Ramona High’s athletic director.

A win at Valley Center on Feb. 12 clinched the Valley League championship for Ramona, so the Bulldogs’ final two regular-season games focused more on preparation for the playoffs than the score. Ramona’s first contest after clinching the league title was a Feb. 17 home game against Fallbrook.

The Ramona varsity roster had 13 players, and they all scored against Fallbrook. Ramona’s leading scorer was Austin Pierce, who provided 11 points. Starters Calvin Harris, Blake Seits and Logan scored 8 points apiece.

Ramona held a 42-19 halftime lead.

The Warriors narrowed that gap during the final two quarters, but the end buzzer sounded with Ramona on the preferred end of the 63-50 score.

“At this point of the season it’s not about X’s and O’s and it’s not about your condition,” Cole said. “It’s more mental focus than anything and staying healthy.”

A Feb. 19 home 69-64 loss to Orange Glen snapped the Bulldogs’ 15-game winning streak and deprived Ramona of a perfect league record, although Cole does not regret limiting his starters’ playing time to ensure their freshness for the post-season.

“That’s kind of our job as coaches, to look out for the big picture,” Cole said.

Last year the Patriots won the Valley League championship.

“They expect championships over there,” Cole said. “We like playing teams like that.”

Ramona held a lead with two minutes remaining, but Orange Glen star Mike Diaz grabbed a pair of offensive rebounds off missed free throws.

The game was also Ramona’s Senior Night, which recognized five playing seniors along with team manager Sean Stemm, who was unable to play due to a concussion suffered during Ramona’s football season.

“The gym was packed,” Cole said.

The loss, which was the Bulldogs’ first since a 56-66 defeat against Santa Fe Christian in a Dec. 23 Grossmont Tournament game, gave Ramona a final regular-season record of 23-5 including a 9-1 Valley League mark. The performance earned the Bulldogs the No. 1 seed in the playoffs.

“It was actually a goal of ours since the beginning of the season,” Cole said of the top seed.

Ken Scheib was Ramona’s coach in 2006, when the Bulldogs last won a playoff game. This season’s Bulldogs broke that 10-year drought against the school for which Scheib played. Crawford traveled to Ramona for the first-round playoff game Feb. 24, and the Bulldogs defeated the Colts for the second time this season.

The game was tied at 28-28 when the halftime buzzer sounded.

“They came out and they played really hard. They played super confident with nothing to lose,” Cole said of the Colts, who had the 16th seed. “I think they hit their first five or six shots.”

A 22-7 scoring advantage in the third period gave Ramona a 50-35 lead.

“It’s been our quarter all year,” Cole said.

Cole noted that the coaches’ halftime objective is to refocus the players and to re-emphasize the keys to the game.

“Our boys are really good about responding,” he said. “They’re really focused. It’s fun to coach them.”

Each team scored 20 points in the fourth quarter.

“They’re a very aggressive group,” Cole said of the Colts.

The final score of 70-55 was closer than the 77-48 score in a non-league game at Crawford on Jan. 15. Marco Cobian scored 28 points in the playoff game. Seits added 17 points.

Ramona’s Feb. 27 quarterfinal was also against a team the Bulldogs had previously played, and since Oceanside is in the Valley League, the Bulldogs and Pirates had faced each other twice before the post-season competition. The Jan. 22 home game ended as a 75-49 Bulldogs triumph. Ramona’s 90-71 win Feb. 10 at Oceanside matched the Bulldogs’ top point total for the season.

Cole identified two areas of focus for his players on Saturday. The first quarter ended with Ramona holding a 31-5 lead.

“They executed absolutely amazingly on defense. They were awesome,” said Cole.

A 19-12 Oceanside advantage in the second period created a 43-24 halftime score.

Ramona’s third-quarter domination created a 65-37 lead, and the final score was 81-47.

“It might have been the best defensive game of the season for us,” Cole said.

The roster was expanded to 14 Ramona players for the post-season, and 10 scored against Oceanside. Seits was the team leader with 31 points.

“Blake was locking down his shots,” Cole said.

Cobian added 18 points, and Greg Knight contributed 8 points.

“Because our defense was so good, our offense was very good,” Cole said. “It all feeds off of each other.”

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