Boys’ Basketball: Edison stuns top-seeded Loyola to reach CIF Division 1A title game

The Edison High boys’ basketball team is returning to a CIF Southern Section final for the first time in 21 years, and only the second time in program history, after the host Chargers polished off the top-seeded Los Angeles Loyola, 79-65, in a Division 1A semifinal Tuesday.

The milestone victory sends the fourth-seeded Chargers (25-6) to face No. 2-seeded Foothill for the division title Saturday at the Honda Center. The Knights defeated 11th-ranked Palos Verdes Peninsula, 70-61, in Tuesday’s other semifinal.

Tip-off time for the 1A final Saturday is 8:30 p.m.

“This is indescribable,” senior guard AJ Garrity said after he and his teammates survived a mad rush onto the court by the Edison student body. “I really can’t put this into words.”

Perhaps, neither could Loyola (20-10) after a sizzling first half by the Chargers.

Edison was spot on in its execution during the game’s first 16 minutes, especially from three-point range. The Chargers scored their first 21 points from beyond the arc to grab an early nine-point lead.

That cushion turned into a 27-16 lead after the first quarter and into a 21-point edge early in the second quarter.

“It’s not often that you do everything that you’ve been asked to do right, but our guys did that in the first half,” said Edison Coach Rich Boyce, who is taking his first team to a CIF final during his 15-year stint with the Chargers.

“We did everything. We made shots, we rebounded, we pushed the ball up court. The second half, we kind of got away from that, but we finished strong.

The Chargers held a 46-31 halftime lead, thanks to 12 three-pointers.

Brae Ivey had a terrific first half at both ends of the floor for Edison. He hit three three-pointers and had 15 of his 18 points by the half, and created turnovers at the defensive end. On consecutive Loyola possessions late in the first quarter, he came up with a steal near midcourt and drove in to score on a spin move, then forced a five-second violation to give the Chargers the ball back.

He wasn’t the only Charger going at full charge in the opening half. Garrity hit four three-pointers and had 14 points, and Derek Molina scored his nine points in the first quarter on a trio of treys.

Edison was still in command, holding a 51-34 lead with 3:37 left in the third quarter when Ivey picked up his fourth foul. That’s when Loyola began to chip away, closing to within 55-48 on a three-point play by center Henry Welsh with 50 seconds left in the quarter.

The Chargers took that seven-point lead into the final eight minutes. They were up 58-52 when Ivey fouled out with 5:58 to play.

“Once I went out, there was nothing I really could do about it,” Ivey said. “Nothing I could do, physically, but I could do things verbally, like become the biggest cheerleader on the bench, tell my teammates to get to their assignments.

“I went out, but it really didn’t matter. Randall (Walker) came in and played great, we hit some big threes, and the guys finished it off. They were amazing down the stretch.”

Clinging to its six-point lead and with momentum appearing to favor Loyola, Edison responded.

Nate Matthews scored on a driving layup, then hit a jump shot to extend the lead back to double digits (62-52) with 4:21 to play. After Loyola forward Josh Lavergne hit a three-point shot to trim the lead to 62-58, Jake Haar answered with a three from the corner. After Welsh scored on a follow shot, Haar dropped in a three from the opposite corner of his previous trey, giving the Chargers a 68-60 lead.

Down the stretch, Edison hit its free throws to put the game away.

“We called a time out when Brae (Ivey) went out, and then Nate (Matthews) hits a big layup,” Boyce said. “I thought he, Randall and Jeremiah Lewis did a fantastic job for us coming off the bench tonight.”

Garrity led all scorers with 20 points. Matthews finished with 10 points.

Edison advanced to Tuesday’s semifinals by pulling away from Placentia Valencia in the second half Friday to take a 68-53 quarterfinal round victory. Ivey connected on four three-point shots and led all scorers with 27 points, and Garrity had three three-pointers and scored 20 for the Chargers, who outscored the Tigers, 39-27, in the second half.

The only other time an Edison team played for a section title was in 1994, when the Chargers finished runner-up to Mater Dei.

“This was a statement game for us,” Ivey said of Tuesday’s semifinal win. “This is just a feeling of joy, knowing how hard we have worked since Day 1, to get to where we are now. We’re happy to be playing for a CIF championship, but now that we made it, we’re not satisfied with just getting there. We want to win it.”