Calabasas boys defeat long-time rival Agoura, 67-39, in basketball

The Calabasas boys’ basketball team remains undefeated in league following last Friday’s victory over Agoura, 67-39.

"We wanted to take care of business. We didn’t want [the game] close down the stretch like JV," said senior guard Jonny Wilson. "Our smaller lineup came in and got the job done."

Contributions came from junior guard Robert Babadjouni who hit a clutch three-pointer, junior guard Obi Ikemefuna who scored two on a fast break lay-up, and senior JD Housman, who scored his first two points in a Marmonte League game on a left-handed lay-up.

"At the beginning, we came out with fire and intensity but our execution wasn’t as strong as it should have been," said Agoura junior center Elex Michaelson. "We’ve started out flat in a lot of games and came back. We’re known for playing tough and doing the best we can. We didn’t have a strong second half. Calabasas took it to us—they were relentless throughout the game."

Senior forward Chad Martinson was Agoura’s top scorer with 12 points and junior forward Matt Mejia added nine. Mejia also grabbed eight rebounds and senior shooting guard Todd Riccio had four steals "which is a lot for one game for anybody," according to Agoura head coach Joe Riccio.

Still, the Chargers’ effort couldn’t salvage the game.

"We go on phases for five or six minutes where—as a team—we’re out of it, and we work our way uphill from there," said senior shooting guard Bobby Lyons of Agoura. "In the second half, we came out too aggressive and too pumped up, and they [Calabasas] played off of that."

"We kept our winning record by not playing to their losing record," said senior guard Sean McDermott.

Junior forward Steve Saunders led the Coyotes in scoring with 26 points as well as 13 rebounds, followed by sophomore point guard Drew Housman who had 10 points and Wilson with nine points. McDermott scored seven points, and senior center Jason Saunders hit for six points, snagged 11 rebounds and blocked seven shots. Senior guard David Hoffman tallied two points and had eight rebounds.

Housman, who’s known for his hustle despite his small 5-foot-6 stature, is a major force for the Coyotes. However,throughout the first half, his inside shots were consistently blocked by the 6-4 Martinson and senior point guard Chris DeSimone.

"I should have realized after the first time I got blocked that I should have stopped and shot a pull-up jumper," Housman said.

"We were able to get it inside to our big guys, so it’s not like we shot really bad that game. If they force us to shoot outside shots, we shoot the outside shots," he said. Housman did manage to be in the right place at the right time for two consecutive boards and two steals which led to four of his points.

"Even though we were pretty focused on stopping the big guys, we didn’t give up many outside shots," said Martinson. "But when [Calabasas] got inside, there was no stopping them. We tried to contain them, but we should have brought them outside the paint a little bit more."

Troublesome for Agoura was a lack of patience on both offense and defense.

"We weren’t working for the best shot, working the ball around for the best opportunity," Lyons said. "We try to get out and transition on offense because we don’t have size, but we do have speed. We need to work on being more vocal and rotating on defense."

"Every league game this season, we’ve been down by 10 and we’ve brought it down to within three or five points. In past games, we’ve proven we’re good enough to come back, but we just couldn’t [on Friday]," said Martinson.

Regarding the rematch, Lyons said, "We will definitely make sure we box out the two Saunders brothers. They killed us on the offensive board."

"On the inside, I can disrupt a lot of my opponents’ shots, and that makes it easier for my teammates to get on the outside and defend the perimeter, which solidifies our defense as a whole," Jason Saunders said.

"Hopefully through hard work and determination we’ll win the next one," Michaelson said.

Similarly, Wilson looked forward to the next game."We expect to go out there and give 110 percent, and we hope to leave with a victory."

Agoura was to have played Thousand Oaks on Wednesday at home and will travel to meet Royal again on Friday.

Calabasas faced undefeated Moorpark on Wednesday and will be at Simi Valley tomorrow night.