Rancho Christian boys basketball team pulls away from Rancho Verde in Ivy League opener – Press Enterprise

TEMECULA — The Rancho Christian and Rancho Verde basketball teams have produced some nail-biters in recent seasons.

That wasn’t the case Wednesday, as the only real suspense down the stretch was whether or not Daniel Bol would record a double double-double.

The 6-foot-9 senior power forward dominated the paint from the start and finished the evening with 21 points on 10-of-12 shooting and 19 rebounds. Jeremiah Profit added a game-high 22 points as Rancho Christian pulled away during the second half for a 60-37 victory in the Ivy League opener.

The Eagles outscored Rancho Verde 27-7 over the final 14 minutes of the game, as the Mustangs made only four field goals after halftime.

“That level of execution, especially on defense, played a huge role for us tonight,” Eagles coach Jalen Lake said about his players holding Rancho Verde to its lowest point total in more than two years. “We had some relentless competitors out there that were hungry and just wanted to get the job done.”

Rancho Verde’s tallest starter is 6 foot-5, so the Mustangs (9-4 overall) had trouble slowing down Bol throughout the contest. Bol tallied 12 points and 12 rebounds by halftime and finished one rebound shy of a rare double double-double despite not playing the final 3 minutes.

“I get very excited whenever I see that because its means I get a chance to eat,” Bol said about playing teams can’t match his size and strength.

Bol helped Rancho Christian to a 47-27 rebounding edge, and Lake said there was an emphasis to get the ball to Bol early and often Wednesday.

“We haven’t been doing the best of jobs taking advantage of our size,” Lake said. “I’m just really happy for him (Bol). He’s coming off a torn meniscus, so he didn’t get to play club ball in the offseason. So it’s really great seeing how hard he’s worked to get back and that it’s paying off for him.”

The game was tight early, as Jaiden Perry knocked down a 3-pointer to give Rancho Verde a 10-8 advantage midway through the opening period.

Rancho Christian (7-6) responded with a 20-5 run over the next 7 minutes to regain control. Bol and Profit combined for 15 points in that stretch.

Charles Knight scored seven consecutive points to help Rancho Verde slice the deficit to 30-22 by intermission. Semaj Carter scored six points in the opening 2 minutes of the second half as the Mustangs got within 33-30. However, Rancho Verde made just 2 of 28 shots the rest of the way.

Knight and Carter combined to score 21 points for the Mustangs, but the duo only made 7 of 25 shots from the field Wednesday evening.

“We had a game plan to take away their key players and we just stuck to that,” Profit said about the team’s defensive performance in the contest.

Profit, a junior guard who transferred from Temecula Valley, got off to a bit of a slow start, as he made only 2 of 6 shots during the opening period. Profit attacked the basket more as the game went along and found open lanes to the rim to score layups or earn free throws (6 of 7 from the line).

“I stopped forcing things and was more just patient in letting things develop,” said Profit, who finished the night by making 8 of 15 shots from the field.

Profit scored all 13 of his second-half points to spark the 27-3 run that put the game away for the Eagles. Bol added six points during that stretch.

Lorenzo Beltran tallied eight points and five rebounds for Rancho Christian, and Luke Bareh added seven points and six bounds for the Eagles.