Legionnaires split first two league basketball games

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

Bonsall High School’s basketball team was undefeated in Sierra League play during the 2020-21 season but has been moved to the Patriot League, and the Legionnaires split their first two league games of 2021-22.

Southern California Yeshiva obtained an 81-56 victory Jan. 18 in Bonsall. The Legionnaires’ Jan. 20 home game against Health Sciences was a 77-37 Bonsall victory which gave the team an overall record of 5-6 along with the 1-1 league mark.

Castle Park made the trip from Chula Vista to Bonsall for a Jan. 4 game the Trojans won by a 74-52 margin. “They’re just too big of a school,” said Bonsall coach Chuck Colletti.

The score was 34-34 at halftime. “We hung with them pretty good,” Colletti said. “Then we fell apart.”

A lack of depth was Bonsall’s undoing. “We basically played seven guys,” Colletti said. “The seven guys just got tired.”

Emil Watkins scored 18 points against the Trojans; Nathan Winebrenner sank 13 points worth of shots, and Hady Rahman contributed 11 points. Winebrenner led the team with nine rebounds; Rahman pulled down seven rebounds, and Watkins had six of the team’s 34 rebounds. Rahman and Angel Ortega each had four assists. Watkins recorded three steals.

The Legionnaires traveled to Valley Center for a Jan. 6 game which ended as a 77-28 Jaguars victory. “We had a real bad day,” Colletti said. “Nothing was going right for us.”

Although both Castle Park and Valley Center are in Division V for CIF playoff purposes this year, both schools have significantly larger student enrollment than Bonsall. “I want the boys to understand that the tougher the competition, you’ve got to work harder,” Colletti said.

“Castle Park, I think, prepared us a lot better than Valley Center,” Colletti said. “I think all in all the boys really understand what has to be done.”

The Legionnaires avenged a previous loss Jan. 13 with a home victory against Warner, who had won the Dec. 2 contest between the Legionnaires and the Wildcats. “We got back on track,” Colletti said.

The score was 7-7 after one quarter and the Legionnaires held a 26-21 halftime lead. A 20-8 scoring advantage in the third quarter contributed to the 63-45 Bonsall victory.

In the Dec. 2 game, Bonsall made 12 of 42 two-point attempts and four of 11 three-point shots. The Legionnaires made 18 of 50 shots from two-point range Jan. 13 but seven of 12 shots from beyond the three-point arc.

“We shot the ball well, got some freshmen in,” Colletti said. “All in all, it was a good game.”

Watkins had 19 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and four steals. Winebrenner contributed 16 points and 10 rebounds. Ryan Skaine, who is one of the freshmen, led the team with six assists. Nine different Bonsall players scored points.

Jan. 14 included a Bonsall trip to Chula Vista to play Calvary Christian Academy. The Royal Knights were victorious by a 54-46 margin. “We kind of gave that one away on a silver platter. We just fell apart in the fourth quarter,” Collettti said.

“We just didn’t play well enough,” Colletti said. “We shot terrible from the free throw line, and that hurt us.”

The victory over Bonsall was the sixth win in a row for Southern California Yeshiva and was the Hawks’ ninth victory in their last 10 games. “Their teams are well coached,” Colletti said.

Watkins had 20 points against the Hawks. Winebrenner scored 19 points.

“We hung with them for a while,” Colletti said. “Turnovers killed us the second half.”

The first quarter of the game against Health Sciences ended with a 28-12 Bonsall lead. The Legionnaires had a 52-25 cushion at halftime.

“That was one of our better games of the year,” Colletti said.

Nate Valera scored 27 points against the Surgeons and made seven three-point shots. Watkins provided 22 points; Winebrenner had 11 points, and Ortega contributed 10 points. “Good balanced scoring. Just one of those games where everything clicked,” Colletti said.

Bonsall’s overall record fell to 5-7 Jan. 20 with a non-league loss to California Lutheran. “They beat us by one point,” Colletti said. “It was a great game.”

The game was played in the C-Hawks’ gym in Wildomar. “We love going up there because that gym is just beautiful,” Colletti said.

The Legionnaires utilized a 1-2-2 trap. “We were playing that all day and doing a pretty good job,” Colletti said. “We ran our offense perfectly, which is basically screening and attacking.”

That caused the C-Hawks to foul Bonsall players, but the Legionnaires made only 11 of 21 free throw attempts. “That was the game,” Colletti said.

Bonsall had a 10-9 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Legionnaires were ahead by a 26-23 margin at halftime. A 13-9 California Lutheran scoring advantage in the third quarter gave the C-Hawks a 35-34 lead.

California Lutheran had a 48-41 lead with 40 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Bonsall made a three-point shot, stole the ball, and sank another three-point attempt with 20 seconds left.

The C-Hawks made eight of 11 free throw attempts but missed their final two, both in one-and-one situations. Bonsall selected a California Lutheran player to foul, and he missed his first shot. Bonsall missed a layup which would have put the Legionnaires ahead, but Bonsall once again fouled and the free throw was missed. Bonsall had the ball with four seconds left, but a three-point shot went off the rim to preserve the 48-47 California Lutheran victory.

“A real heartbreaker to say the least, but it was a fun game,” Colletti said.