Looking Back: Calabasas Had Another Strong Boys Hoops Season

boys basketball team got off to a flying start last year, scoring the first 15 points in a season-opening 90-35 win over Canoga Park in November in the Campbell Hall tournament. And sure enough, the season turned out to be another successful one as the Coyotes continued to build their reputation as one of the Valley area’s top programs.

Of course, Calabasas coach Jon Palarz felt right at home in Campbell Hall’s gymnasium, having coached the school to two section titles earlier in his career before moving on to bigger Calabasas.

Lenard Gorokhov scored 19 points, Callum Dewar added 16, and Nick Justman scored 15, all three of them totaling about 15 minutes of playing time, as Calabasas substituted freely.

"It's nice to see that kind of balance between them," Palarz said. "I'm happy to have that kind of contribution from those players."

It was an important first step, as Calabasas was hoping to adjust as quickly as possible to the graduation of Jordan Coleman, who was the Marmonte League Player of the Year in 2009-10 before moving on to Hawaii.

Gorokhov scored 11 and Justman 10 in the first quarter, as Calabasas led 35-4.

"The first game, you want to come out and run what we wanted to run in practice," Gorokhov said.

Calabasas won four of its first five – a three-point defeat to University of L.A. ruined a chance to win the Campbell Hall tournament – to set up a key early Marmonte League showdown with Simi Valley on Dec. 15, a contest that started a trend of down-to-the-wire finishes, some successful and some not.

The Simi Valley showdown was one of those games Calabasas would love to have back, a 65-63 overtime loss to host Pioneers that was decided on Austin Hawk’s game-winning shot with 22 seconds left.

Calabasas'  Justman had a chance to tie the game in the final seconds, but his driving layup missed. While it did look like Justman drew contact as he shot, the refs swallowed their whistles.

"The ref did not call a foul," said Dewar, who scored a game-high 23 points. "In a game like this you have to be strong. The refs have to be strong. The crowd can influence the game a little. But you can't win them all. We just need to come back strong."

Calabasas missed some key free throws. One miss came in the final minute of regulation that could have gave the Coyotes a three-point lead, and two misses in overtime also proved fatal.

"We kept giving the ball away with the lead and didn't shoot well enough at the free-throw line to close the door," Palarz said. "[Simi Valley] hit some big shots." 

The Calabasas loss overshadowed the strong game of Dewar, who scored 15 points in the third quarter.

Gorokhov added 15 points for the Coyotes.

"We'll bounce back," he said. "This is a learning experience and hopefully it will make our team better."

GETTING BETTER

Calabasas then went 2-3 in the 32-team San Fernando Valley Invitational tournament, then the Coyotes looked better in the Chaminade tournament, beginning with a 75-36 win over Roybal, as 10 Calabasas players managed to scored at least one basket, including resever Nema Salebifard, who scored 10 on his birthday.

Calabasas jumped to a quick 11-0 lead, extending to advantage to 21 at the half, as Roybal missed its first seven shots and made just three of its first 17.

Calabasas continued with tournament wins over Menlo and Lancaster to qualify for the championship against host Chaminade, and the visiting Coyotes lost 70-63. Dewar made all-tournament, averaging 13.3 points.

After a league win over Royal, Calabasas played at Moorpark on Jan. 7, and it was a wild one, as the Coyotes won 74-66 in double overtime.

Calabasas prevailed after holding off not one, but two buzzer-beater baskets by Moorpark’s Jordan Russell.

“I just really wanted to win,” Calabasas’ Justman said. “I can’t describe it. It was just amazing.”

Trailing 52-50, Gorokhov (14 points) scored on a driving layup with 1:25 left. After forcing a missed shot by Moorpark, Gorokhov penetrated into the heart of the Moorpark defense and delivered a slick assist to Justman, who scored on a layup with 21 seconds left to give Calabasas a 54-52 lead.

With two seconds left, Moorpark’s John Lennox missed a 15-foot jump shot, but Russell scored on rebound basket to force overtime.

The first extra session was worth the price of admission in itself.

A nice 12-foot turnaround jumper by the Coyotes’ Josh Cohan (11 points) gave Calabasas a 58-57 advantage with 1:25 remaining. On Moorpark’s next possession, a three-point shot by Jake Myers gave the Musketeers a 60-58 lead with 57 seconds left.

Calabasas came right back when Spencer Levy was fouled with 37 seconds remaining. Levy converted one free throw to cut the deficit to 60-59.

On the ensuing possession, Moorpark attempted to spread the floor and run time off the clock as Calabasas was applying pressure defense. An errant cross-court pass was stolen at mid-court by Levy who drove in, scored and was fouled to give the Coyotes the lead, 61-60, with 14 seconds left.

Levy missed the bonus free throw only to see Justman come down with an offensive rebound and score on the put-back to give Calabasas a three-point lead with 11 seconds remaining.

Moorpark came right back down the court and found Russell in the left corner, and he hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to force another overtime, and the place went nuts.

In the second overtime, it was all Calabasas. They scored the first six points and hit 5 of 5 free throws down the stretch.

“I was very proud of how our kids played hard and had faith,” said Palarz, whose team had lost their previous three overtime contests. “This was our fourth overtime game of the year and it was our turn to win one. . . . We refused to lose tonight.”

Moorpark (13-3, 2-2) fell behind by 14 points in the first half. As for Russell’s clutch shooting, it left Moorpark coach Eddie Gutierrez speechless but very happy.

“I’ve never seen anything like that (two buzzer-beaters by one player) in my 26 years of coaching,” Gutierrez said. “We talked at halftime about never giving up. We didn’t lose our poise being down by 14. We stayed patient on offense and defense. Overtime is anyone’s game. I’m just very proud of my team.”

MORE THRILLING FINISHES

Three days later, Calabasas played host to Thousand Oaks, and it came down to the end again. Freshman Jeremy Lieberman hit a game-winning shot with 1.5 seconds remaining in a wild 56-55 upset over the first-place Lancers.

Lieberman scored just four points, but was the one with the most to celebrate at the end. Palarz put his trust in the freshman despite a crucial turnover on an inbound pass just minutes before. 

"It was crazy. Coach just said to make a play, and I made a play," Lieberman said.

Lieberman has basketball in his blood. His uncle, Zach Lieberman, was a legendary point guard back in the day for Montclair Prep, Taft and Kennedy, where he played with Stuart Gray.

"Jeremy has lots of talent and lots of confidence, and I knew he would make the right play," Palarz said.

The victory gave the Coyotes a share of first place, while the Lancers ranked No. 7 in CIF Division I-AA, lost their first league game.

"This is the most important win we've had all season," Dewar said.

Dewar scored a team-high 14 points, including a crucial rebound basket in the final minute that helped Calabasas stay within 55-54 with 15 seconds left.

Thousand Oaks’ Evann Hall, coming off a 33-point performance Friday in a win over Simi Valley, scored 13 points but missed a free throw with 7.2 seconds remaining. 

Palarz decided to put the basketball in Lieberman's hands and hope for the best. The freshman responded like a veteran, driving to the heart of the Thousand Oaks defense and using his left-hand for a scooping layup that rolled in.

"It's just the left side, I'm used to doing it," Lieberman said.

Added Dewar: (Jeremy) is going to be a great player. I love having him on the team."

The Lancers’ full-court inbounds pass was stolen by Cohan to seal the victory.

Calabasas received important contributions from its reserves.

"It was a physical game and the starters needed a blow," Palarz  said. "(The bench) was able to score and come up with some key rebounds and transition baskets. They really got us back into the game."

Justman finished with 11 points, followed by 12 from Cohan and seven from Spencer Levy. It was a noteworthy performance for Justman, who went down with an injury in the first quarter only to return and give some valuable minutes. 

FINDING THE GROOVE

Of course, no one can win all the close ones. A four-game winning streak was ended at Agoura on Jan. 14 in a 69-65 overtime loss.

Calabasas jumped to an early 10-point lead, as Gorokhov hit two 3-pointers in the first period. Calabasas went cold in the second quarter and scored just five points. Meanwhile, Agoura found success driving to the basket against the larger Coyotes’ front line, which had racked up several blocks in the first quarter.

Steven Wilson also had 18 points for Agoura, including 11 in the second half. Cohan of Calabasas scored 19.

After another win, Calabasas fell 52-50 in a rematch with Simi Valley, as Dewar scored a team-high 16 points, followed by 12 from Gorokhov and eight from Nick Justman.

Calabasas then seemed to peak at the right time. The Coyotes put together a streak that included four consecutive wins to finish the regular season, followed by an 82-52 win over Diamond Ranch  

“We’re playing really well. We’re playing team basketball,” Justman said. “We’re working really hard. Yes, we’ve had some losses this season, but I think those losses have made us stronger and helped us learn to do a better job.”

In the win over Diamond Ranch, Dewar scored 19 points, Justman added 12 and Gorokhov scored 11.

“We needed a nice performance, and we got it,” Palarz said. “We had three players in double figures, plus Jeremy Lierberman had eight assists. Everyone on the team scored at least a point, so it was a fun game.”

But then the season ended with a 68-56 loss to Cerritos in the second round of the playoffs, as Calabasas finished 20-9.

“It was nice to get the 20-win mark for the second consecutive season,” Palarz said. “Our core group of seniors went 44-14 over the past season with one Marmonte League title and one time finishing one game back this year. It was a nice run they had.”

No one is quite sure what happened against Cerritos. The cold-starting Coyotes fell behind by 16 points in the first quarter and trailed by as many as 24 in the first half.

“We just had an awful first quarter, and there was no way around that,” Palarz said. “It turned out to be a grave rather than just a hole, and that was very uncharacteristic of our team. In only one other game all season, we didn’t get to the stretch run with a chance to win. Maybe we were overconfident after winning the first playoff game by 30 points, I just don’t know.”

Calabasas has a lot of good players returning, particularly point guard Lieberman, shooting guard Levy and forward Cohan.

Lieberman started the whole season as a freshman and finished with 127 assists, an average of 4.5 per game, and he has a huge upside. Cohan and Levy started, and Max Hoetzel, a 6-foot-6 shooting guard, was the sixth man; all will be back for next season