One SLO County boys basketball team moves on in CIF playoffs, five fall
Mission Prep’s boys basketball (22-7) secured a first-round playoff win with a 71-51 home victory over Hoover (10-16), representing the only San Luis Obispo County team to advance in the postseason.
Meanwhile, five other county teams saw their seasons come to an end.
The Royals, the No. 1 seed in Division 2 CIF-Central Section action, move on to play No. 9 Roosevelt, of Fresno, which beat Atascadero.
Mission Prep was led by seniors Jayden Nozil, who scored 21 points, and Roman Benedetti, who had 20.
Brody Miller added 15 for the Royals and David “Deuce” Kellogg added eight points and Ethan Orozco had three points.
Wednesday’s game between Mission Prep and Roosevelt takes place in San Luis Obispo on the Royals court and begins at 6 p.m. The contest will be streamed on the subscription-based NFHS Network.
Roosevelt 77, Atascadero 75
The No. 8 Greyhounds (15-13) clawed back from a 17-point halftime deficit to fall by two points at home to Roosevelt (19-10) in Division 2.
Atascadero was led in scoring by Steven Ernst, who had 21; Damon Mitchell who tallied 16; and Shea Buckley, who added 15 points.
The Greyhounds return some of their key players in Buckley and Mitchell, who were both juniors this season.
Buckley had big games throughout the season, scoring well above 20 points in multiple contests, and was among the top players in the county.
Atascadero finished fourth in Mountain League at 4-6 in the 2024-5 campaign.
Hanford 59, San Luis Obispo 49
The No. 2 Tigers (21-8) fell at home to the Bullpups (18-10) in Division 2.
SLO managed only 20 first half points and was down 15 at the half.
The Tigers had scoring contributions from Logan Missler (11 points); Hayden Brandow (11 points); and Vaughn Otto (nine points). Cody Johnston had seven.
The Tigers finished third in Mountain League at 6-4. Several of SLO’s key players were juniors, including Otto, Missler and Brandow.
High flyer Jace Gomes and another key contributor, Cody Johnson, are seniors.
Porterville 72, Arroyo Grande 64
The No. 10 Eagles (11-18) fell to the No. 7 Panthers (21-8) in Division 2.
The Eagles’ seniors include Zayne Ellison and Grant Fordyce.
A key contributor in guard Garret Marin is a junior.
Arroyo Grande finished in fifth place at 3-7 in the Mountain League.
South 74, Paso Robles 34
The Bearcats (16-10) fell on the road to South (18-10), of Bakersfield.
No. 13 Paso Robles got off to a 17-0 deficit against the No. 4 Spartans in Division 3, who played stifling defense and limited movement and open shots for Paso Robles.
Adane Siegrist drained a free throw for the Bearcats first point in the game to break the ice, and followed up with a 3-pointer for the team’s first field goal.
But the Bearcats, down 42-12 at the half, couldn’t find the right formula to get back into the contest.
Paso Robles finished in second place at 5-3 in the Ocean League.
Justin Garza 61, Templeton 41
The No. 11 Eagles (13-16) fell to the No. 6 Guardians (22-7) on the road in the Division 3 bracket.
Templeton finished 1-9 in the Mountain League in sixth place.
The Eagles upset Atascadero 64-63 on Jan. 28 for their sole league win.
This story was originally published February 16, 2025 at 1:31 AM.
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