Elenes’ 23 points help Colton beat Pacific for CIF-SS Division 9 boys basketball title
The Yellowjackets played in a boys basketball final for the first time since 1920, and earned the school's first section title since football won in 2010.
Black News 
ONTARIO — Colton boys basketball coach Kendrick Ayres doesn’t have the biggest team on the floor. However, what he does have is a team that will give 32 minutes of their best effort on both sides of the ball.
Saturday morning, in the CIF-Southern Section Division 9 championship game against Pacific at Toyota Arena, that effort resulted in forcing 24 Pirate turnovers which led to 18 Yellowjacket points in a 55-42 win.
It was the boys basketball program’s first championship game appearance since 1920, when the Yellowjackets earned runner-up honors in what was known as the heavyweight division. They are the first Colton team to earn a section championship since football won a Central Division title in 2010.
“We hang our hats on the defensive end and today we did a great job of that on the larger floor,” Ayres said. “I was so glad to have the first game of the day and have the opportunity to just dive straight into things instead of sitting there and thinking about it.”
Pacific (10-12) had an 8-6 lead with 2:40 left in the first quarter after a floater from Tevin Nixon Jr. Colton’s Andres Elenes scored nine of his 23 points in that opening stanza and all in a row, capped off by converting a 3-point play with 0.4 seconds left, as the Yellowjackets raced to a 14-10 lead with a quarter gone.
Izac Sanchez added 12 points while Isaiah Stuart chipped in 10 points to go with six rebounds and four assists for Colton (19-11).
Douglas Perez Jr., who led the Pirates with 13 points, made a 3-pointer with 5:35 left in the second quarter to pull Pacific within 16-15 with 5:35 left before halftime. Andres then scored seven of the next nine Yellowjacket points, including his lone 3-pointer, as they pushed the lead to a then game-high 10 points with three and a half minutes left in the half. Colton led 31-18 at halftime.
“I actually felt like the rims were closer here, almost like shooting in our gym at home,” Andres said. “And once you see those first couple of shots go down it’s contagious and we fed off of that.”
Freshman Michael Collins connected on a jumper with 35 seconds left in the third quarter to push Colton’s lead to 42-28. Pacific had four free throws in the final 10 seconds and an opportunity to cut further into the deficit. But Brelyn Walker and Romon Bryant combined to make one of those four shots and Pacific trailed 42-29 after three quarters.
“We really couldn’t find a comfort zone against a really good Colton defense today,” Pirates coach Jerry Holmes said. “These guys have worked hard in the gym and I’m excited to see what we can do going forward, especially only graduating just two seniors.”
Colton’s Isaiah Stewart connected on the Yellowjackets’ third and final 3-pointer to push their lead to 45-29. A steal and layup from Elenes 90 seconds later gave Colton their largest lead of the morning, 49-31.
Both teams will advance to next week’s CIF State tournament, with first round pairings coming out on Sunday afternoon.
