In the SoCal Regional final between Chaffey and Fullerton on March 8, the Hornets pulled out a 86-61 blowout win. The Hornets controlled the pace of the game with every possession, making key defensive stops when needed. All of Chaffeys shots were heavily contested leaving no room for easy shot making opportunities.
Kairi Sheppard contributed a well-rounded game finishing with 13 points, but it was his defensive intensity which helped the Hornets run away with this one. Addy G’Bye also made key timely shots and Justin Davis had a crucial steal and dunk to end the half. The story of the game was the Hornets high quality shot selection compared to Chaffey’s forced and rushed shot selection. As well as hustle plays by Fullerton to force turnovers and make it increasingly difficult for Chaffey to get any easy shot making opportunities. Jackson Hopps also made a crucial timely three pointer in the beginning of the third quarter which set the tone for the rest of the game.
“My teammates trust me. They were leaving me open the whole night so I trusted that they’d find me. That’s how we’re supposed to end it. We’re not done yet, though,” Davis said. He’s eager to come back to the Hornets in what will be his fourth season with everything he has learned up to now.
Although Chaffey tried to come back shooting three pointers in the fourth quarter, they finished 5-25 from beyond the ark. The Hornets bench made runs to end the second half strong. The Hornets moved the ball very well, totaling 19 assists. The team had possessions in the third quarter when the clock was winding down, including a Jaqari Miles three pointer to end the quarter. His spark off the bench is what ignited the team to pull away finishing with 20 points. His ball handling skills and finishing ability when the clock is winding down under pressure is very unique. Points off of turnovers were also something that the hornets kept capitalizing off of and made the difference in the game. When the pick and roll wasn’t working other shot opportunities presented themself as well as putback shots under the rim from offensive rebounds.
Webster had some thoughts about the team’s ability to go on offensive runs while also controlling the pace of the game.
“Chaffeys gimmicky. They don’t really play defense. They kind of just let you take shots and you have to be patient about making sure the right guys are taking the right shots, but we won the game because of the defense in the second half,” said Webster. “That’s the number two scoring team in the state. I think they average 102 a game and they only scored 61. So I thought we controlled the tempo of the game.” This was a big win against a very great offensive team the Hornets beat with much positivity to look at going forward.
This article was updated on March 19, 2025 to correct a misspelled name.
