The562’s coverage of Cabrillo Athletics is sponsored by the Cohn Family.
The562’s coverage of Jordan Athletics is sponsored by former LBUSD superintendent Chris Steinhauser.
Since he was hired as the Cabrillo boys’ basketball coach back in 2022, Chris Spencer has had one number on his mind: 14. That’s the number of wins the Jaguars would need to set a new benchmark for their program.
Cabrillo won 13 games last year in a productive first season under Spencer, but that initial goal remained unfinished. On Wednesday night against Spencer’s alma mater, Jordan High, Cabrillo officially hit that number, shooting the lights out in an emotional 68-61 victory in the 710 Rivalry.
“It’s a testament to these seniors, man, they trusted and they bought in a year ago,” said Spencer after the milestone win. “I told them if you guys keep believing you’ll get to the spot you want to, and that’s exactly who led us tonight. Kahliel Williams took five charges, Chad Washington had his career high in a game we needed every single point of it, our guy Ethan Briz brought energy, Kaleb Curry, just our whole senior group played wonderfully.”
Washington had a game-high 19 points to lead the way for Cabrillo, knocking down an impressive five three-pointers. He said that extra shots in practice, consistent encouragement from his coaches, plus his new routine of getting his wrists taped before the game were all key to his success shooting the ball.
“It feels great, I just felt that in me tonight,” said Washington. “It was a personal game, you know, just dealing with a lot, but I had to block that out and do what was right for my team. And I came through and now it’s on to the next. It doesn’t end here.”
Washington was playing with a heavy heart on Wednesday after the recent loss of his grandmother, whom he honored by writing “LLGMA” on his sneakers–short for “Long Live Grandma.”
“Every game that’s why I wear LLGMA on my shoe, because everything’s for her,” Washington said. “And if she was here, man… I don’t know. It was just very personal.”
Cabrillo started the game on its heels, falling behind 15-4 in the early going and facing a 17-9 deficit after the first quarter.
But things changed rapidly in the second as the Jags put on by far their best shooting display of the season. Washington hit three of his triples in that quarter, and as a team Cabrillo went a blistering 6/8 from beyond the arc. All six of those made threes came in the first 4:20 of the quarter, giving the Jags their largest lead of the night, 30-22.
Aeden Gonzales hit three triples on the night (including two in that second quarter) to help get Cabrillo in front, but that lead wouldn’t last long.
Jordan went on a 14-2 run, scoring 10 in a row at one point to retake the lead going into halftime, 39-35. Jay’mari Redmond was key for the Panthers, scoring all 10 of his points in the first half.
The teams continued to trade blows in the second half, with Cabrillo striking first, going on an immediate 10-0 run coming out of the locker room. Lincoln Dean (17 points) drilled a three-pointer to end that stretch, putting the home team up, 45-39. But once again J-Town responded to close the deficit to just 52-51 heading in the final frame.
Washington was again the spark for Cabrillo in the fourth, scoring five points early to help Cabrillo to a five-point lead. After Jordan pulled within two, Washington knocked down a three right in front of his bench as he was fouled, putting his team on top, 63-58.
Moments later, things got worse for Jordan as Redmond was called for his fifth foul on a questionable charge call; one that head coach Chris Francis did not agree with. Redmond, Jordan’s leading scorer, played less than two minutes in the fourth quarter while not scoring at all after halftime due to lingering foul trouble.
“Hats off to Cabrillo, they played like this was a playoff game tonight,” Francis said. “I’m not gonna take nothing away from them, the officiating was what it was. Referees don’t miss free throws and layups, but that was ridiculous, and anybody that was at this game would say the same thing. But my hat off to Cabrillo, I wish them the best.”
Redmond fouled out with Jordan down by five with 3:19 remaining, and the Panthers would never get any closer. Curry made a pair of free throws and added a layup to close the scoring, setting off a celebration for the home crowd.
The milestone win was even more meaningful for Spencer, who got it against his old high school and against a coaching staff he respects.
“Those guys are always gonna play hard, it doesn’t matter if they brought their freshman team up here, they’re gonna play tough,” Spencer said of Jordan. “They’re well coached, a great team, great program, and I have so much love for them. It means the world to me to break it against my old team. To beat my old school with a new school record, you can’t ask for much more.”
There’s still a lot more to play for in Moore League hoops, and both of these teams are in the thick of it. Both Cabrillo and Jordan are in a three-way battle with Wilson for the third- and fourth-place spots in league, which each come with an automatic playoff berth.
The Panthers and Jags are each 5-4 in league play with three games left to play, while Wilson sits at 5-5. Fittingly, the Bruins will play both of their competitors next week with a game at Jordan on Tuesday and at home against Cabrillo next Thursday.
Jordan closes the season with a grueling stretch: at Poly on Friday, then home games against Wilson (Tuesday) and Lakewood (Thursday) next week.
Cabrillo hosts Millikan on Friday, then travels to Poly and Wilson to close out the regular season.
