Eric Castillo ignites Sonora in defeat of Agoura in 2A Boys Basketball Playoffs – Orange County Register

LA HABRA — Sonoran boys’ basketball coach Mike Murphy knew his team had to include Agoura guard Zane Miller, who was a 50-point game underway, to have any chance of winning.

Not only did the Raiders do that, but they pulled off a great shooting performance from key reserve Eric Castillo as they defeated Agoura 74-59 in a second round playoff game of CIF-SS Division 2A at Sonora High on Friday night.

Castillo scored 21 points off the bench and converted seven 3-pointers while shooting 7 of 11 from beyond the arc. Yoda Oke played an excellent all-around game with a triple-double, 21 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists. The Raiders knocked down 11 3s in the contest.

Sonora (26-4) plays No. 2 seed Pacifica Christian (22-8) in Tuesday’s quarterfinals.

Murphy cheered after Castillo’s big night.

“He’s a phenomenal player and he’s had his toughest year and I kept encouraging him, ‘Hang on, your time is coming,’ and he improved tonight,” Murphy said. “I was so happy for this kid, you have no idea how much he wanted that. He’s one of the best shooters I’ve ever coached and I tell him he’s lightning in a bottle. As soon as he gets it going, holy cow.”

Murphy also praised Oke’s all-around performance.

“Yoda is Yoda, he’s been a special player to us all year.”

The Raiders’ game plan on defense was to put their best defenseman, Riley Hale, on Miller. Hale was up to the task and did a great job denying Miller any clean look in the first half. Miller had five points at halftime.

“We wrote 4 on the board tonight. We wanted to play four quarters and take at least four loads, and I think we took seven,” Murphy said. “Riley took three charges and Eric took three charges, so we had to do that.”

The first quarter was a back and forth with six lead changes. Oke ended the quarter by finding Castillo in the corner for a 3-point buzzer-beater and an 18-16 advantage.

Nasir Meyer had a game-high 26 points for the Chargers, including four 3-pointers, while Miller finished with 15 points.

Meyer’s three-pointer in the second quarter leveled the game 25-25 before Sonora closed the half with a 10-2 run. This time Troy Jenkins delivered the 3 before the buzzer sounded to end the half.