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“All season long we prided ourselves on our defense,” Poly head coach Sharrief Metoyer said after his team’s 51-43 defeat of the Pasadena Bulldogs in round two of the CIF playoffs. <\/span>“And tonight our defensive energy was up.” <\/span>Boy, no kidding—the ‘Rabbits posted a 9-0 shutout after the first quarter, and led 27-12 at halftime, building a cushion big enough to sustain poor free throw shooting and some defensive breakdowns late in the game.<\/p>\n The Jackrabbits shot poorly in the early period, missing their first seven field goals before center Julian Camper decided that enough was enough—they started 2\/12 from the field and finished the first quarter 4\/17. <\/span>Due to their defensive pressure, which forced six turnovers in the first eight minutes, Poly still came out with a nine-point lead, despite their shooting woes. <\/span>Almost a minute into the second, the Bulldogs broke their scoring drought with a three-pointer from George Toyama, the game’s leading scorer with 18. <\/span>After that, though, Poly started to break out of their slump as well, as Robert Nixon, Jr. stepped up and drained two three’s, his team’s first after starting 0\/5 from behind the arc. <\/span>Poly warmed up, scoring 18 points in the second quarter behind Nixon Jr., Shelton Boykin, and Julian Camper. <\/span>Boykin had one of his better performances off the bench, with 13 points (to lead Poly), five rebounds, an assist, a steal, and one crowd-pleasing dunk. <\/span>“That’s my job,” Boykin said after the game, “to come off the bench and get everyone hyped. <\/span>I’m like Lamar Odom.”<\/p>\n After the ‘Rabbits’ stellar first half, there was less to get hyped about in the final sixteen minutes. <\/span>Poly shot 7\/20 from the charity stripe, and gave Pasadena a number of open looks. <\/span>Still, they maintained consistent pressure inside, and kept the Bulldogs from getting any big runs—with four minutes left in the game, Poly was leading by twenty points, 47-27. <\/span>Pasadena closed the game 16-4, but never brought the lead to single digits. <\/span>Other leaders for Poly were Camper, who had eight points and five boards, and Ryan Anderson, with seven points and nine rebounds. <\/span>Poly’s guards stepped up, shooting better and pulling down rebounds as well (starting guards Michael Mayes and Alexis Moore had seven between them). <\/span><\/p>\n Metoyer didn’t seem all that pleased with his team’s free throw-shooting, but pointed out that he was glad they “played well enough early that it was okay.” <\/span><\/p>\n Boykin said he and his teammates were elated with the win, even after the second-half woes. <\/span>He pointed out that two playoff wins for the program was great considering Poly’s recent history of early exits. <\/span>“We’re trying to make a dynasty around here,” he said.<\/p>\n They’ll get a big chance to up their reputation next Tuesday, when Poly hosts a quarterfinal game against Dominguez, who beat Hesperia on Friday night.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n