Enterprise-Record (Chico)

Chico boys advance to the NorCal championsh­ip

Panthers come from behind to defeat Burlingame Saturday

- By Justin Couchot jcouchot@chicoer.com

CHICO >> The Chico High boys basketball is one win away from the CIF Division IV state final, after a 50-47 victory against Burlingame on Saturday in the CIF D-IV NorCal semifinals.

It is the furthest any team has advanced under head coach Abraham Simmons, who is in his seventh season coaching the Panthers' varsity team. None of Simmons' previous teams had made it past the first round of the CIF playoffs.

Chico trailed by 15 points in the second quarter and by four points with under 1:00 to play in the fourth quarter, but battled back to secure the victory.

An offensive rebound fell into the hands of senior center Brendan Finney, who made a layup while getting fouled. Finney made his free throw to trim the Burlingame lead to 46-45, and Burlingame's Kevin Chiu made a free throw to give his team a 47-45 lead.

Chico's Rashad Samuels, who scored 22 of his 26 points in the second half, drove to his left and made a layup while being fouled.

The entire gym knew the ball was going to Samuels, it was just a matter of if he'd step back for his fourth 3-pointer or drive to the basket.

“Rashad refused to lose tonight,” Simmons said. “Burlingame had their best defender on him and they all came on the help side and he still found a way to score and he found a way to get the ball to guys who could score. He was a difference maker tonight.”

Chico High took advantage of a rowdy home crowd and took a 12-7 lead in the first quarter, but Burlingame went on a 15-0 run the final three minutes of the first quarter to take a 18-12 lead.

Chico went into the paint its first couple of possession­s, but struggled with turnovers late in the quarter. Rebounding struggles compacted the turnover struggles, as Burlingame was getting two or three offensive rebounds on nearly every possession.

In the second quarter Burlingame continued its run, taking a 29-14 lead with 1 minutes and 18 seconds left until halftime on a secondchan­ce layup from 6-foot-6 center Kyle Haslam.

Chico battled back in the third quarter led by its defense. Burlingame did not score the first 6 minutes and 6 seconds of the third quarter, as Chico opened the quarter on a 12-0 run.

Burlingame led 35-33 after three quarters, and Chico got its first lead since the first quarter with 2:45 left in the fourth quarter at 42-41.

Chico's only other lead came at 48-47 on the layup by Samuels, who capped the game with two made free throws.

Finney had 14 points as he and Samuels played together from the center/ guard position.

“Any time that your season is on the line, everything is magnified especially for your seniors,” Simmons said after Saturday's game. “They know exactly what is going on and they don't want to end this. We talked about it at the shootaroun­d today, they brought it up and said we don't want this to end. They proved it today.”

Chico High (24-8) now prepares for its final home game of the season, when it hosts No. 10 Half Moon Bay (20-10) in the CIF D-IV Regional Finals at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Chico High. Half Moon Bay upset the No. 3 seed in NorCal, Marin Catholic, on Saturday.

Simmons said he hopes the Panther Pit “is rocking” once again Tuesday.

The winner of Chico/ Half Moon Bay on Tuesday advances to the CIF D-IV State Final on March 11 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento against the winner of the No. 1 seed from SoCal, Valencia and No. 3 St. Bonaventur­e.

 ?? JUSTIN COUCHOT — ENTERPRISE-RECORD ?? Chico High's Rashad Samuels (right) guards Burlingame's Kevin Chiu in the second half of the CIF Division IV NorCal semifinal game on Saturday at Chico High School in Chico. Samuels finished with 26points in the Panthers' 50-47victory.
JUSTIN COUCHOT — ENTERPRISE-RECORD Chico High's Rashad Samuels (right) guards Burlingame's Kevin Chiu in the second half of the CIF Division IV NorCal semifinal game on Saturday at Chico High School in Chico. Samuels finished with 26points in the Panthers' 50-47victory.

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