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February 17, 2025
By Loren Kopff • @LorenKopff on X
After narrowly defeating Orange Vista High on the road in the first round of the CIF-Southern Section Division 2A playoffs on Feb. 12, Artesia High was hoping to get to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2022. But for the second straight time this season, the Pioneers had no answer against Villa Park High.
Despite making numerous attempts to get back in the contest in the second and third quarters, Artesia was doubled up in the scoring department in the fourth quarter and lost to the Spartans 47-36 last Friday. The Pioneers conclude the season at 21-8, the third time in the past four seasons they have won at least 21 games.
Artesia last led with 2:42 left in the opening quarter but trailed by two points once in the second quarter and three points in the third quarter and was down 31-29 entering the fourth quarter. But the hosts missed seven straight shots to begin the final stanza and did not hit a field goal until there was 1:13 left in the game.
“We were kind of outmanned; without [senior] Judd [Sajise], who probably plays starter minutes for us, we were already down a man,” said Artesia head coach Jeff Myles. “Not making any excuses, [but] [senior] Jaylen [Reed] kind of got hurt, too. So, that kind of shortened our bench. But we have other guys…we were just smaller, and [Villa Park] was just making offensive rebounds on us. I think we just ran out of gas.”
Sajise injured his ankle against Orange Vista and according to Myles, tried to give it a go against Villa Park, but couldn’t walk.
Artesia led three times in the first quarter, only to see the Spartans come back to tie the game. After Dakari Harris gave Villa Park the lead for the first time with 3:35 left in the stanza, senior C.J. Okeke’s basket almost a minute later put the red and black in front for the last time. Senior Mekhi Shield’s basket 39 seconds into the second quarter tied the game at 12-12, marking the last time the game would be knotted. To make matters worse, the Pioneers wouldn’t score for the next 4:17 but were still in the game at 19-15.
With the score 21-17, Villa Park had a chance to distance itself a few times. The first came with 2:06 left in the half when Okeke and Diego Perez were issued technical fouls, but Perez missed both free throws. He also missed both free throws 45 seconds into the second half and shortly after that, senior Christopher Vargas scored his only basket of the game to make it 21-19.
With 1:54 left in the third quarter, Okeke nailed a three-pointer from top of the key as the Pioneers trailed 28-26. That would be the closest the 605 League champions would get. After that, Artesia was two of 12 from the field and five of 12 from the free throw line.
“Every time we made a run, they made a big shot,” said Myles. “That’s what good teams do. I think we just ran out of gas; we were kind of running on fumes. But [senior] Jovell Tate probably played his worst game of the season, and he played the whole game.
“I think the turning point in the game came when we missed those four free throws [in the fourth quarter] when we were down by seven,” he added. “Once we missed four straight free throws from our two best players, that’s when we kind of knew it probably wasn’t our night tonight.”
After scoring 14 points in the last two games, and 15 points before that, Tate ended with five points, three rebounds and a steal against Villa Park. Okeke led the Pioneers with 13 points, four rebounds and three steals while junior Jordan Heredia came off the bench to add five points, all in the second quarter.
The two teams faced each other in the semifinals of the Artesia Winter Classic back on Nov. 29 and the Spartans came away with a 61-49 victory. In that game, senior Cayden Del Rosario had 12 points while Tate added 11 points.
“Our game plan tonight was to take away [Malakhi Johnson], their best player and leading scorer,” said Myles. “I think we kind of held him in check. But I think what hurt us was [Jed Cain-Graves], who didn’t play in the first game, and I’ve never seen him on film before. But he made two big [three-pointers] in the second half, and that might have been the gamechanger.”
Myles has said several times this season that not too many people gave the Pioneers a chance to do much, despite fielding 11 seniors and four seniors. Artesia won the 605 League for the third time since the league was formed and scored over 60 points in five of the last seven games. But its offensive performance in the two playoff games were the lowest of the season.
“We just told them [in the locker room after the game] that we were proud of them and thanked them for everything,” said Myles. “We had two four-year guys. Coming into the season, nobody thought we would win 21 games and be in Division 2 in the playoffs. I thought we were probably going to be 16-12 and I was hoping for Division 4. I kind of surprised myself by being in Division 2 and winning 21 games. But that’s a testament to the guys and their hard work and them buying in.”
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