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La Mirada High senior M.J. Smith throws down a dunk in the second half against Dominguez High as junior Andrew Castro admires the talent. Smith scored 19 points, nine coming in the second half as the Matadores trounced the Dons 82-34. PHOTO BY CAROL EMMERLING.
February 3, 2024
By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X
When La Mirada High was in the former Suburban League, titles were hard to come by with Artesia High and Mayfair High running the show while the Matadores were primarily a third or fourth place team. When Dominguez High was in the former San Gabriel Valley League, its boys basketball teams were virtually untouchable as the Dons won 11 CIF-Southern Section championships from 1989-2008.
How the tables have turned in the 2020s as the Matadores are now the ones to beat while Dominguez is dreaming of what it’s program used to be. La Mirada moved to 5-3 against Dominguez since 2008 with a resounding 82-34 victory last Friday, leaving the Matadores at 22-4 overall and 6-0 in the Gateway League as they inch closer to their fourth straight league title. In contrast, Dominguez hasn’t won a league crown since going 10-0 in the 2021-2022 season.
“Coach [Matt] Dunn at [St. John] Bosco said sometimes you’re the bug, sometimes you’re the windshield,” said La Mirada head coach Randy Oronoz. “So we’ve all been there. I know the score got up there. We’re trying to win with class, and we have to just play hard, and that’s the only way we know how to do it. You don’t want to throw it in the other team’s face, but sometimes you’re the bug and sometimes you’re the windshield, and we’ve done a good job of building this program up to be able to compete for our fourth league championship in a row.”
The Matadores never trailed and after Andre Johnson’s basket made it 6-5 just over two minutes into the game, La Mirada scored the next 13 points to start the runaway affair. Even when Dominguez, which dropped to 1-5 in league, scored the first seven points of the second quarter, the Matadores managed to go on a 17-4 run over the final 5:35 of the first half and did not allow their counterparts to score consecutive baskets in the second half.
The 34 points allowed are a season-low and in six league games, La Mirada has allowed less than 60 points in three straight games and five times. Longtime nemesis Mayfair scored 62 points on Jan. 17.
“The saying goes, defense wins games, and offense just tells you how much you won by,” said Oronoz. “We got steals; we weren’t trying to go for a million steals. But we really want to solidify and put our stamp on the game as being a defensive team. Everyone plays defense in the [CIF-Southern Section] Open Division; it’s there for a reason. So, if our offense isn’t going, we might have to just squeak out a win every now and then.”
The usual playmakers were doing their thing for the Matadores, led by sophomore Gene Roebuck, who was on fire from the very beginning, pulling down seven rebounds in the first quarter while scoring nine of the team’s 21 points in the stanza. He finished the game with 25 points, 12 rebounds and four assists.
Senior M.J. Smith posted 19 points, six steals, five rebounds and two assists while senior Julien Gomez pitched in with 15 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals. In fact, the Matadores grabbed 43 rebounds with 23 coming from the offensive end, and of those, five were putbacks.
“I think guys were just trying to play hard and give us extra opportunities,” said Oronoz. “That’s basically it. Credit to our guys because they played such big teams over the preseason. Dominguez isn’t small, but compared to what they’ve been seeing, they thought they could have opportunities to chase down a rebound.”
With two games remaining in the regular season, both at home against Gahr High and Mayfair, La Mirada is seeking for its fourth straight league championship and has won 26 of 28 league games during that stretch. Those two losses came to Dominguez and Downey High in 2023, both on the road as the Matadores shared the first place honors with Downey. Before that, the last time La Mirada finished in first place was during the 2015-2016 season.
“It’s the players,” said Oronoz. “We have a great senior class that has really solidified themselves in trying to be the best team La Mirada has every had. So, 26-2 in league; they haven’t lost a league home league game in four years…and we’re hoping to stay that way.”
