Indio fights hard before losing to third-ranked Serra in CIF boys' basketball playoff game
The Indio Rajahs saw a strong boys' basketball season come to an end with a first-round CIF-Southern Section playoff loss Wednesday, but the loss was anything but a crushing disappointment.
The Rajahs fell 69-62 to Serra High School of Gardena at Ray Adams Memorial Gym in a game Indio easily could have won against a higher-ranked team in Division 3AA.
"It's all about the free throws," Indio head coach Lamont Thompson said. "That's the difference in the game."
The loss ended Indio's season at 21-6, including a 14-0 unbeaten season and Desert Valley League title. Serra, ranked third in Division 3AA, improved to 17-12.
Technically, the game was a forfeit by Indio, because when a scuffle broke out with three seconds left in the game, the Indio coaching staff pulled its team from the floor with time still left on the clock.
More: Indio High basketball secures DVL three-peat, now ready for postseason run
The Rajahs' last lead of the game came at 12-11 in the first quarter. But each time it looked like the bigger and taller Serra team was ready to pull away from Indio, the Rajahs fought back to keep the game close.
Even in the fourth quarter, when Serra scored nine straight points to break a 48-48 tie, the Rajahs found a way to close the gap. Down 67-55, Indio scored seven consecutive points on a pair of free throws from Daven Thomas, a pull-up 3-pointer on a breakaway by Jayden Gonzalez and a steal on an inbounds pass and basket by Gonzalez.
But that was where the comeback ended, with Indio not scoring in the final 1:15 of the game and Serra hitting just two free throws in that time.
"We knew it was going to be a tough game," said Thompson, who said he is stepping down as head coach and will instead help as an assistant to Johnny Flores, currently an assistant on the team. "Sometimes the calls and things don't go your way. Like we told our guys, it wasn't the refs. If you go to the free throw line and you miss 11 of them, that's the difference in the game. You hit the free throws, we win the game by four or five."
Serra bigger, taller
Serra had an advantage in the game on the inside, especially with 6-foot-7 Maximo Adams throwing down several dunks on the night. Thompson said Adams is a legitimate Division I college prospect. But while Adams scored 22 points, it was guard Kayleb Kearse who led Serra with 25 points, including three 3-pointers.
For the Rajahs, Thomas led the way with 25 points, including 10 points from the free throw line. Gonzalez had 21, including four 3-pointers
"That's senior leadership. Gonzalez is a four-year varisty player," Thompson said. "Thomas, this is his first full season with us on varsity, but he has been huge for us."
Flores, who has been with the program for 12 years and will take over as head coach next year, said the loss did nothing to tarnish the Rajahs' season.
"For us it was never about winning a championship," Flores said. "It was never about going back-to-back (with league titles). It was about the first round of CIF and trying to see how far we could go. We've got some dogs on our side. Serra looked the part, but we've got some guys, too.
"We just missed too many free throws," Flores added. "In the end, we just didn't execute."
Thompson said the end of the game was just a matter of emotions getting perhaps too high.
"They have nothing to be ashamed off. They represented their community. They represented their school," Thompson said. "When your emotions get high, that's a way to lose, too. You have to lose with the same heart and class. People don't remember how hard you played. But people who know the game know what they saw."
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Indio's fourth-quarter comeback falls shot in playoff loss to Serra
