Walnut Boys Basketball Upsets Bonita, Girls falls in Doubleheader Split

The Walnut high school basketball teams split a doubleheader Wednesday evening against the visiting Bonita Bearcats.  The girls’ team lost to Bonita, 60-50 in the matinee, while the boys defeated Bonita 67-64 in the nightcap.  The win was Walnut’s first against the bearcats since head coach Josh Cameron took over the head coaching duties for the Mustangs.

“It was the first time that we’ve beaten them since I’ve been here,” Cameron said. “They really wanted to win it for me and I appreciate that.”

Richard Rycraw led four Mustangs in double figures, tallying 16 points, seven rebounds and three blocks.  Rob Harrelson pitched in 14 points (including three from behind the arc) while Zuri Williams and Jeff Huang added 13 and 10 points, respectively.

“Since this is the last year that Bonita will be in our league, we want to send them out with a ‘bang’,” Rycraw said. “Last year we had a chance to beat them, but we let it slip away in the end.  We wanted to show that we are better than them.”

It was a closely contested game in the first half, with neither team being able to make a significant run with Bonita taking a 31-30 lead going into halftime.

Walnut (11-5, 2-0), however  would break the game wide open in the third period, going on a 16-6 run to widen the gap to 46-37 to lead 50-43 heading into the final quarter.

Bonita would not go away however, as it would employ the press defense to help the bearcats crawl back into the game. 

Tim Trisnaldi led four Bearcats in double figures, dropping 14.  David Neff pitched in 12; include three free throws to bring Bonita within six points.  Anthony Cascarano also dropped 12 points, while Dane Hollar added 11 points and five rebounds in the losing effort.

After hitting a 3-pointer to bring Bonita within three points, Trisnaldi had the potential tying shot rim out with 23 second to go.   He would make another 3-pointer to close the gap to 66-64, but LJ Besong’s free throw helped seal the victory for Walnut as one final heave by Bonita went just wide.

“Give Bonita credit,” Cameron said.  “They have the heart of a champion.  They were able to hit critical shots down the stretch.”

Walnut was not so lucky against Bonita’s girls’ team in the matinee, falling 60-50, but they did make the game more interesting in the second half, albeit against the bearcats’ second team, forcing Bonita coach Darren Baumnuk to reinsert his starters.

Kim Mayekawa and Brittney Yee each had 11 points in the loss as Walnut falls to (9-6, 1-1).

Walnut travels to West Covina Friday evening for another double header, with the girls playing at 5:00 pm, followed by the boys’ game at 6:30pm