Champs! Arroyo Grande boys basketball wins its first-ever CIF Central Section title
Arroyo Grande High boys’ basketball team was dominant in a title game that made history for the program: the school’s first ever CIF sectional championship.
After a tight first half, the Eagles (22-9) outshined Porterville (23-10) in the Division 2 title game en route to a 59-30 blowout win at Selland Arena in Fresno.
The Eagles, the No. 2 seed in the bracket, were led by 6-foot-2 senior wing Adam Silmon, who had 17 points, and 6-foot-1 junior guard Zach Soriano, who tallied 15 points in the win. Senior Noah Morris, the Eagles’ 6-foot-7 big man, was a force in the lane, altering shots and gobbling up rebounds throughout.
After the buzzer sounded, Arroyo Grande players jumped for joy at their end of the court, celebrating a first sectional title for the program coached by school English teacher Ryan Glanville since 2004-05.
“Watching joy on faces as this was happening was the most rewarding thing,” Glanville said.
The Eagles made it to the sectional championship as CIF Southern Section finalists in 2012 and 1970, before moving into the CIF Central Section in 2018-19, but never won. Nipomo High head coach Stan Ikeda was part of the 1970 Arroyo Grande squad.
The Eagles advanced and won a state regional in 2020. They were getting ready to head out to Sacramento for the finals when the arrival of COVID-19 shut play down that year.
Arroyo Grande now moves on to the state basketball tournament again as a section champion.
“The pairings come out on Sunday I believe and the first game is on Tuesday,” Glanville said. “Our kids are really excited to continue their season in state and we’ll see how this one does.”
Close first half
The Eagles pulled away after a tight first half that ended with a 26-22 AG edge.
Both teams showed some signs of nerves at the start with cold shooting, but Arroyo Grande’s defense held steady and the team kept its poise, forcing difficult shots and turnovers.
Arroyo Grande found a way to get some easy buckets with straight-line drives that helped settle the butterflies.
“I think it’s tough for high school kids to shoot in big arenas with all that space behind the basket,” Glanville said. “We played in Save Mart Center (at Fresno State University) earlier this season and that might have helped a bit though.”
Arroyo Grande forced several turnovers and the Panthers’ shooting went cold as Porterville managed only eight points in the second half.
Silmon, a 6-foot-2 guard, led the Eagles with 11 first-half points, using his dominant left hand to convert multiple layups from the wing. Silmon muscled one bucket inside and then made a follow-up free throw after being fouled to finish of the and-one and then scored off a turnover.
“Adam has been our best defender, rebounder and leading scorer this season,” Glanville said. “He has been tremendous.”
George Keskinov, a 5-foot-10 junior guard, nailed two 3-pointers in the half, one under pressure with a hand in his face, to tally six points in the game.
With teams exchanging buckets in the second quarter, Andrew Moody had nine first-half points for Porterville, the bracket’s No. 4 seed. Moody had 11 in the game.
Eagles pull away
Arroyo Grande pulled away in the third behind a big quarter from Soriano, who poured in eight straight points for the Eagles, showcasing a sweet lefty shooting touch on a 3-pointer while slashing to the basket with a quick first step to create separation for multiple layups.
“Zach Soriano was huge in that quarter and Noah altered a lot of shots,” Glanville said. “Noah is just getting better and better around the basket with his defensive presence.”
In the fourth quarter, the Eagles caught fire as Nic Simmons and Tyson Schmidt both drained 3-pointers to put the Eagles up 48-27. Schmidt had eight points and Simmons added five in the contest.
Glanville substituted in his bench players in the final two minutes with the game well in hand and the celebration was on in Fresno.
Arroyo Grande, the Mountain League’s third place team behind St. Joseph and Mission Prep with a 10-4 league record, beat Roosevelt of Fresno (70-51), Liberty of Bakersfield (68-65) and Dinuba (60-40) in its first three playoff games.
St. Joseph (25-6), of Santa Maria, plays in the Division 1 title game Saturday at 8 p.m. versus Clovis West (29-2), the No. 1 seed which defeated Mission Prep in the second round.
That highly anticipated game, featuring highly-touted recruit Tounde Yessoufou for St. Joseph, will be livestreamed on the subscription-based NFHS Network.
This story was originally published February 24, 2023 at 10:35 PM.