Mission Prep head coach Terrance Harris had his team ready to play at home on Wednesday. They will hit the road this weekend. By Owen Main

After losing a tight game in the CIF Southern Section 4AA championship game, Mission Prep was awarded a first-round home game in the state playoffs. On Wednesday night, they used strong defense and fast-breaking offense to run out to a commanding early lead en route to a 78-39 win over Bakersfield Christian.

Matthew Blaney led Mission Prep with 24 points. Quinton Adlesh scored just two points, but dished out 11 assists in the no-doubt-about-it win. In other news, head coach Terrance Harris finally shaved the beard he had been growing for about two months too long.

With the win, Mission Prep moves into the final eight in the state in Division IV. They will play Saturday night at 5:00pm in Los Angeles against familiar foe, Campbell Hall. Led by UCLA-bound Aaron Holliday, Campbell Hall lost in the 4-A Southern Section final and won their Wednesday night game as well. Earlier this season, Campbell Hall beat Mission in the Mission Prep Christmas Classic, despite a great individual performance from Quinton Adlesh. Adlesh will have to find a way to simultaneously find his teammates and be a scoring threat. Very good teams have found a way to limit him to one or the other this season. Campbell Hall is a really good team.

Mission might be a little deeper than they were earlier in the season, a little more organized, and generally a little better than they showed that night in December against Campbell Hall. I’m sure the same goes for Campbell Hall, though . Winning on the road is a tough task in the playoffs. For their part, the Royals and their clean-shaven coach have just a few more days to extend their season, and try to extend their run into the state’s Division IV Final Four.

Photos by Owen Main