Coyotes easily win in first round of the playoffs

MICHAEL COONS/The Acorn ADVICE--Calabasas assistant coach Satish Kayastha does his job during a timeout. Head coach Russell White of the Coyotes had to sit out because he had two technical fouls in a previous game.

The Calabasas boys’ basketball team defeated Temple City, 84-72, to win a first round California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) playoff game last Friday night in a game played in Calabasas.

The Coyotes were playing without head coach Russell White and without junior forward Steven Saunders, after both were ejected from the previous game; the Marmonte League championship against Moorpark.

Jonny Wilson, a 6-foot-4 senior guard/forward had a career night, scoring 38 points and grabbing 14 rebounds in the win against Temple City. Senior guard Sean McDermott scored 12 points.

Calabasas took a commanding 48-28 lead at halftime, but after stretching the lead to 22 to start the third quarter, the Coyotes saw Temple City climb back into the contest, eventually cutting the lead to seven, 61-54, late in the third quarter.

MICHAEL COONS/The Acorn LOSING THEIR FOOTING--Sean McDermott of Calabasas and Kevin Sweeney of Temple City lose their balance while going after a loose ball during Friday's playoff game. Calabasas won handily.

"We shouldn’t have let them get back into the game," said sophomore point guard Drew Housman (10 points). "But it’s still a good win."

Calabasas made good use of Temple City’s foul trouble, however, and pulled away in the fourth quarter, rebuilding the lead to 17 at 80-63 on the way to victory.

"We wanted to win one for him," Wilson said of White’s absence, "because he’s put so much hard work into the program. He’s the man. We wanted to get a win for him and Steve Saunders. We felt so horrible that they couldn’t be here."

Assistant coach Satish Kayastha was at the helm for the Coyotes in the CIF opener.

"The coaches talked and they decided I’d be the best," Kayastha said. "I’m an experienced game coach, I’ve been doing JV for a long time. I’ve been successful at it, so Coach White was comfortable with it."

White was there at practice prior to the game, though, and Kayastha and the players said they were ready.

"Basically, Coach White helped prepare the team all week," Kayastha said. "We went over the game plan. We watched film. We made some adjustments in the game."

Kevin Sweeney was the man to watch out for. He kept Temple City in the game, before finally fouling out with 36 points late in the fourth quarter. "He’s a great player," Kayastha said. "We knew about him. We wanted to contain him. We couldn’t completely shut him down. He was tough to stop."

Housman said the Coyotes knew they were in good hands, despite not having their head coach. "We have a really good staff," Housman said. "And we knew our assistants would do a fine job. We’re still a good team and we wanted to win this one for him (White) so we could move on."

Kayastha said the Coyotes used their height advantage and worked inside against Temple City.

"We were smart," he said. "We got a lot of high percentage shots."

About the senior leaders on the Calabasas team Kayastha said, "The seniors want it real badly. This is a very dedicated, hard-working group, so it’s nice to see them come through."