Pacifica Christian boys’ basketball outlasts Edison, wins �Bring the Rain’ game

The Pacifica Christian Orange County basketball program held its annual “Bring the Rain” games on Friday night at Vanguard University.

The concept involves fans throwing whole rolls of toilet paper on the court during the boys’ game, after Pacifica Christian makes its first three-pointer.

It was the sixth year of “Bring the Rain” for the Tritons. To be sure, that’s a whole lot of toilet paper rolls.

Pacifica Christian’s EJ Spillman banks it off the glass during the annual “Bring The Rain” basketball game against Edison on Friday at Vanguard University.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

Senior guard EJ Spillman was happy to oblige Friday night. His attempt less than a minute into the contest spun on the rim before going in, unleashing a sea of white onto the court.

“It was a nasty make, I’m not going to lie,” Spillman said with a smile after the game. “It rimmed in, it went in and out. [I was] getting adjusted to the college three and the depth perception, but it felt good. The energy went up for sure, and it was just motivation to keep our foot on their necks after. It’s great to be a part of tradition.”

The game that followed the toilet paper cleanup wasn’t bad either.

Spillman scored a team-high 17 points as Pacifica Christian outlasted Edison, 59-56, in its season opener.

Pacifica Christian’s Solomon Guang has his pass knocked away by Edison’s Conner McNally on Friday at Vanguard University.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

The Tritons had balanced scoring. Senior forward Logan Stewart scored 12 points, and senior guard Hudson Reynolds scored all 11 of his points in the second half.

Solomon Huang had nine points and fellow junior guard Michael Noel scored seven for Pacifica Christian.

Junior guard Derick Johnson led Edison with a game-high 23 points.

“I really enjoy the group,” Tritons coach Jeff Berokoff said. “I don’t feel like we’re going to miss that many shots, game in and game out. We have a lot of guys who can really shoot it, but we went a stretch where we couldn’t make a layup or a three, and that really hurt. I’m excited about the year. We’ve got a lot of guys back and a lot of good kids, so it should be a fun year.”

Edison led 29-27 at halftime, but Pacifica Christian used its press defense to help pull away in the third quarter. Noel, Owen Connell, Reynolds and Stewart all had steals in a stretch of about a minute, helping Pacifica Christian go on a 9-0 run that consisted of a three-pointer and three straight layups.

Edison’s Derick Johnson, left, and Pacifica Christian’s Owen Connell chase a loose ball on Friday at Vanguard University.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

“We knew we had to bring the energy,” Spillman said. “They only played seven guys, so we knew they were tired. We decided we wanted to press, try to run them up and down as much as possible, put pressure on them, try to deflate them before going into the fourth.”

Pacifica Christian hung on after two starters, Stewart and Noel, fouled out in the final four minutes of the fourth quarter. Edison sophomore guard Jackson Oei hit three of his four triples in the frame, trying to bring the Chargers (1-1) back.

They got the score to 58-56 with 44 seconds left, as Oei drilled a three in front of the Pacifica Christian student section.

The Tritons missed a three-point attempt on the other end, but Sammy Gibbs got a big offensive rebound. Huang then split two three throws with 10 seconds left.

Pacifica Christian’s Solomon Huang (4) makes a key steal from Edison’s Derick Johnson on Friday at Vanguard University.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

Edison’s shot from downtown to tie in the closing seconds was well defended by Reynolds, and it went off the front rim.

Edison senior forward Connor McNally said the team was missing two key contributors, in senior Jacob Martin and junior Devyn Blake. Both are still playing with the Chargers football team, which has advanced to the CIF Southern Section Division 3 championship game.

Pacifica Christian still will gladly take the win.

“It sets the tone for the rest of the year,” Spillman said. “It gets the whole school involved, gets the whole school behind us. Especially with us being a smaller school, having games like this and bringing out a big crowd, it helps a lot.”

In the “Bring the Rain” girls’ game, junior guard Vivian Villagrana scored 22 points to lead the Tritons to a 57-31 victory over Lake Elsinore. Pacifica Christian improved to 2-0.

Like walking through a forest, Edison’s Jayden Oei can only watch as the Pacifica Christian student section throw rolls of toilet paper onto the court during the annual “Bring the Rain” game Friday at Vanguard University.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

Nonleague

Pacifica Christian Orange County 59, Edison 56

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Edison 17 – 12 – 5 – 22 — 56

Pacifica Christian 12 – 15 – 20 – 12 — 59

E — Johnson 23, Jac. Oei 13, Jay. Oei 10, McNally 8, Frahm 2.

3-pt. goals — Jac. Oei 4, Johnson 2, McNally 1.

Fouled out — Johnson.

Technicals — None.

PC — Spillman 17, Stewart 12, Reynolds 11, Huang 9, Noel 7, Connell 3.

3-pt. goals — Spillman 2, Huang 2, Reynolds 1, Noel 1, Connell 1.

Fouled out — Stewart, Noel.

Technicals — Team.