By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X• January 9, 2025
It was just a matter of time before the little brother of the City of Cerritos would finally come out on top of the big brother in high school boys basketball. After losing 15 straight games against Cerritos High, all but three coming in 605 League action, Whitney High finally knocked off the Dons, who were beginning the 2024-2025 season with 14 straight league wins.
Behind solid performances from seniors Morgan Marks and Peter Poitras and sophomore Jezreel DelaCruz, the host Wildcats muscled their way to a tough 61-58 win over the Dons, who had a lead with 2:43 remaining in the game.
“I think as an alum, part of me coming back was to try to restore some of what we had,” said Whitney head coach Nasir Akmal. “In our era, although we were in a tougher league, we still had pride in our program. I walked in with this current senior class as freshmen, so we all came in together and changed the culture. This is just four years in the making. But realistically, it’s probably like 24 years in the making. I’m so proud of what we’ve done, and I want to say we’re finally healthy, but we’re not.
“We still managed to pull that off,” he continued. “Everyone has tape on us and [has been] scouting on us, but they have no idea what we’re doing. They have no idea what we’re capable of doing, and I’ve said that from the beginning.”
Akmal graduated from Whitney in 1999 when the Wildcats were in the Delphic League and played against former Crossroads High star Baron Davis. In that season, the ‘Cats were a dismal 3-22 and their 0-10 league record was the first of four straight winless league campaigns. Since then, the program would encounter only one other winless league season (2018-2019).
It was looking grim for the Wildcats (8-11, 1-0) for nearly the first seven minutes of the game as Cerritos scored the first six points of the game, led 15-6 with 3:38 left in the stanza and still had a nine-point advantage a minute later. But little by little, Whitney chipped away and scored the final seven points on free throws from Marks and Poitras and a three-pointer from DelaCruz.
The hosts took their first lead over a minute into the second quarter on a pair of free throws from DelaCruz. But the rest of the half would see the lead change hands seven more times with neither team leading by more than two points until a three-pointer from DelaCruz with 4:42 left in the third quarter made it a 39-34 contest. Four players would attempt a shot and scored in the first half with senior Alex Cheng being the fourth, and the Wildcats connected on eight of 16 shots in the half with half of those coming from beyond the arc.
“I feel like we should have been up [at the half],” said Akmal. “We missed so many free throws like crazy in the first half.”
Whitney was 10 of 17 from the charity stripe in the half while the Dons (6-12, 0-1) were making 50 percent of their free throws with senior Benson Cho accounting for half of his 12 first half points from the line. The second quarter momentum carried into the third quarter and once down by nine points, the Wildcats found themselves leading by nine points with 34.1 seconds remaining in the third quarter on a three-pointer from DelaCruz.
But most of the fourth quarter would see Cerritos get back some of its first quarter momentum as it began the final eight minutes with a 12-4 run. The last basket of that run was a trifecta from senior Demetrious Washington, giving the Dons a 53-52 lead with 3:45 left in the game.
There would be three more lead changes over the next 91 seconds with Poitras accounting for the eventual game-winning three-pointer, making it 57-56. The last points Cerritos would get came on a two-pointer from Cho with 1:29 left while junior Shayan Saravanakumar, who blocked four shots in the third quarter, iced the game with 12.1 ticks remaining with his only basket, getting a pass from Marks. An off-balance three-point shot from senior Jaden Ribac with a second remaining was off the mark.
“To rally back…we had a game plan,” said Akmal. “They have a lot of adversity to overcome because again, this is 24 years in the making. All our coaching staff spent so much time prepping for this-mental prep, physical prep, game planning, and at the end of the day, we all want to see them fight; play their best, fight and that’s exactly what they did today.”
Cho led Cerritos with 24 points and five rebounds while Washington and senior Jaylen Barsana each added nine points. Marks and Poitras each scored 19 points while DelaCruz added 15 points and four assists. Marks also grabbed eight rebounds. Whitney took only 33 shots from the field but made 20 of them while the Dons were 21 of 61 from the field.
“Guys hit big shots; Peter hit a big three,” said Akmal. “He matched their three and our guys stepped up to the moment. At the end of the day, we have to. If we’re going to win these games, we have to step up and seize the moment.”
Cerritos will host Pioneer High on Friday, visit Artesia High on Monday before hosting Oxford Academy on Wednesday while the Wildcats will go to Artesia on Friday and John Glenn High on Monday before entertaining Pioneer on Wednesday.