Elsinore's Home Court Edge Too Much for Paloma Valley

#44 Cameron Whatley drives the ball to the hoop

With Sunbelt League play underway, Paloma Valley High School took on the task of facing Elsinore High School, but when the final buzzer sounded, they lost 73-52.

If any team has a home court advantage, it's Elsinore (12-5, 2-0). With the school spirit their student body displays and volume levels they are able to reach, it can be daunting for a road team to overcome. Elsinore boasts a section of seats (pictured left) in their gym that the students occupy during the game called "The Jungle." In this game, it was no different. Paloma Valley (6-12, 0-2) had to shoot on this end of the court during the second half which was like facing a sixth defender.

"This is one of the best atmospheres as far as school spirit," said Paloma Valley's Coach Michael Pfeiffer. "Having an end zone and a student section like that is genius. Their kids are supportive. Nothing horrible, nothing dirty, they're just great kids and they really support each other at this school. It makes it a tough place to play."

To top the home court advantage off, Elsinore features three players seniors Preston Beverly and Trevon Lampkin, and junior Michael Taylor, that have been dominant this season. While the Wildcats were able to stop Taylor, Beverly scored 33 points and Lampkin 29, which proved to be too much for Paloma Valley.

"They have three big guys and if you want to beat them, you've got to stop all three," Coach Pfeiffer said about Elsinore's star players.

Facing the tough full-court press of Elsinore's, Paloma Valley survived the first quarter, still within one of their famous scoring runs of tying the score.

The second quarter on the other hand, was the quarter that the Tigers separated themselves from the Wildcats. Opening the quarter with a score of 20-11, the Tigers added 31 points to their total to go into halftime, 51-27.

Coming out after  the half, Paloma Valley was able to match Elsinore shot for shot until the end of the quarter when Lampkin hit a buzzer beater from approximately 50 feet out, leaving the score at 67-40.

Coach Pfeiffer opened the fourth quarter by giving his bench players minutes on the floor. With nothing to lose, the Wildcats' reserve players outscored the Tigers who still were running their full-court press and playing three of their starters for the first few minutes of the final quarter. Hungry to show what they could do, the Wildcats' bench outscored the Tigers 12-6 in the fourth quarter.

"When you play a program this good, you have to play an almost perfect game to beat them," Coach Pfeiffer said about Elsinore's basketball program.

Notable Paloma Valley performances included 20 points scored by Cameron Whatley, 7 points scored by Izaiah Cameron, and Josh Yuan's 4 points which were all scored in the fourth quarter.

Sunbelt League play continues for the Wildcats on Jan. 15, when they face Perris High School (13-4, 2-0) at home.

#22 Josh Yuan goes for a layup in the fourth quarter

The Paloma Valley team gets together during a timeout