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El Toro boys basketball back on its feet with victory over Capistrano Valley

January 23, 2025

CAPISTRANO VALLEY – Nobody has experienced the ups and downs of the boys basketball season the way Lydorian Smith has. Literally.

Last week at a pep rally before a Sea View League game against Beckman, the El Toro captain was thrown into the air by his teammates, who failed to catch him on the way down. Turns out, those moves should be left to the cheerleaders.

Smith hurt his arm when he landed, and that night against Beckman, he didn’t score a point as El Toro gave away the game in the fourth quarter.

Wednesday night Smith experienced another high, carrying his team to a 52-42 victory over Capistrano Valley in the Sea View League.

The landing was understandably soft.

El Toro improved to 14-10 overall, 2-2 in league. Capo Valley dropped to 17-6 and 2-2.

“They accidentally dropped me,” Smith said after redeeming himself against the Chargers. “I felt like I let my teammates down (in the loss). As a captain, I felt like I should have showed more responsibility, showed these guys right from wrong.

“This is the wrong time to be messing around. We’re in league, it’s time to win. We’ve got to make the playoffs. We haven’t been in the playoffs in years, and we want to make the playoffs so bad. Of any team in the league, we want it. We want to win this thing. We showed tonight we’ll do whatever it takes to win this league.”

The Chargers did what they had to do. What they lacked in quality shooting, they made up for in quantity – they shot 18 of 47 from the field, including 7 of 24 from the 3-point arc. They took 14 more shots than Capo Valley, which was 20 of 33, including 5 of 14 from the arc.

Capistrano Valley coach Brian Mulligan was frustrated on several fronts, by his team’s inability to score, and its inability to get a stop when it needed. He was visibly frustrated by the officiating; his team was whistled for 23 fouls to El Toro’s 4.

The Chargers were 11 of 25 from the free-throw line, Mulligan’s Cougars were 3 of 4.

“We had to foul a little at the end, but realistically, we held them in the 40s, but we’re not winning games in the 40s,” he said.

El Toro took a 10-2 lead in the first two minutes as Christien Jimenez and Isaiah Newkirt hit 3-pointers, and took a 12-7 lead into the second quarter. Newkirt opened the quarter with a 3-pointer for a 15-7 advantage, but Capo Valley whittled away at the margin and pulled to 17-15.

“I told them, this is exactly what happened against Beckman,” Smith recalled. “It’s not going to be the same story.”

And it wasn’t. The Chargers responded to Smith’s exhortation.

In the final 2:10 of the half, Kaleb Bass’ steal led to Smith’s 3-pointer at 2:03. After a turnover, Smith added a free throw. And then another turnover gave Smith the opportunity to extend the lead to 26-15 with 45 seconds left. He had nine points in the quarter, 11 in the half, and finished with 15.

The closest Capo would get after that quick barrage was 46-39 with 2:27 left in the game. From there, El Toro made 7 of 12 free throws to close it out.

Before that final flurry, the Chargers made only 4 of 13 free throws.

“I don’t think it’s an upset,” El Toro coach Nick Sainato said. “We know we can beat and play with anybody in the league. Everyone’s really good, but we’re good too. And we proved it tonight. It’s just about building on it and not having a letdown, and doing the same thing Friday against Aliso Niguel.”

The Chargers may possess the league’s best player in point guard Jimenez. And though he shared team scoring honors with 15 points, it hardly felt like it was his night.

But he did hit two of the Chargers’ most emotional shots: A 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the first half for a 29-17 lead, and a 3-pointer to open the second half for a 32-17 advantage. That was his last field goal of the game, less than two minutes into the third quarter.

“We spent a lot of time worrying about him and lost some other guys,” Mulligan said. “Bottom line is we’ve got to make some shots and defend better. He is so talented and so poised, and even though he’s not killing you with a lot of his razzle-dazzle stuff, he controlled the game.”

Four players scored for El Toro, all of them in double figures. Jimenez and Smith had 15, Bass had 13, and Newkirt 11.

Capistrano Valley also had only four scorers, but Jake Davis was the only one in double-digits. Davis scored 23, including all eight of Capo’s points in the second quarter. Gabe Williams and Connor Fisher scored eight apiece.

“Our guys are unselfish,” said Sainato, who also credited his scout team for the game preparation. “They don’t care who scores, just that the team scores.”

In a week of ups and downs, that selflessness mattered. Smith and the Chargers showed they could land on their feet when it mattered most.

Orange County Register

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El Toro boys basketball back on its feet with victory over Capistrano Valley

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