Blog: Coyotes Boys Basketball Hurt by Loss to Compton But Will Return Key Players

The Calabasas boys basketball team was understandably disappointed by its loss in the CIF-Southern Section quarterfinals against a very talented Compton squad.

"We felt we had put ourselves in a position to win the game, leading by seven points with a little more than two minutes to play," said Coyotes coach Jon Palarz.

However, Compton scored seven in the final two minutes of regulation with some incredibly clutch shot-making. The last field goal, with 7.5 seconds to go, not only tied the game, but was the fifth and final foul called against the Coyotes standout junior guard Jeremy Lieberman.

Without Lieberman, Calabasas was beaten in overtime by Compton, 74-69, in a game played at Calabasas High School, before a large, raucous, capacity crowd on Tuesday, Feb. 19.

Still, there was one moment in the overtime period when it looked as if the Coyotes were going to make things extremely interesting, even without Lieberman.

Down 69-66, Max Hoetzel, who had a superb second half, during which he scored 20 of his 25 points (including the overtime), made a great basket while appearing to be tripped by a Compton player.

The referee under the basket called a foul on the Compton defender. However, the official further away from the basket ruled a traveling on Hoetzel. The walking call prevailed. But why?

"We saw one official call a foul," Palarz said. "... While the other official said he had traveled. It's a disagreement about interpretation among the officials. It's hard to know why one (call) stands and the other didn't."

Credit Palarz for not allowing himself to argue to the point of getting a technical foul. But the momentum of the play being whistled for Compton - added to the blow of losing Lieberman - made the outcome seem inevitable.

The fact that Compton played a great game, was a very talented team and executed flawlessly in the final minutes of regulation and for most of the overtime, was little consolation to the Coyotes.

"It's painful," Palarz said. "We weren't playing for a moral victory against Compton. We were playing to move on in the playoffs and we feel we were capable of doing that and had fallen short of what our goal was."

The Calabasas coach did lend a perspective as to why the loss was taken so hard that Lieberman, who scored 29 points, including 18 in the first half, and Hoetzel were inconsolable after the defeat.

"The pain is really a good thing," Palarz said. "You don't deserve to win games like that unless you're invested in it, emotionally."

Austin Smith, a junior, who will be returning for Calabasas next season, complimented Lieberman and Hoetzel for superb shooting against Compton.

"It's what was keeping us in the game," said Smith, a 6-foot-7 forward. "We rely on it and they were hitting (their shots). That's all we can ask for. They did their job."

With Westlake, Thousand Oaks and Royal, all playing tonight in CIF semifinals and representing the Marmonte League, the Coyotes had reason to believe they could repeat as CIF champions.

"I don't know if there's ever been any year that a league has put three teams into different divisions of the semifinals of the Southern Section championships," said Palarz.

Five excellent years and great expectations for another

Palarz has been the Calabasas coach for five years. The Coyotes finished 23-6 this year. Last year they won 28 including the CIF title game, a 30-point win, and one state playoff game.

The Coyotes won 20 games during the 2010-11 season and 24 in 2009-2010.

"This program has been as successful as any in the area and of course I'm very proud of that," Palarz said. "We have a group coming back next year that can sustain that level of success, I believe."

Lieberman, Hoetzel and Smith will all be returning as seniors next year. Michael Hayon, a sophomore who broke into the starting lineup in the latter part of the season before illness hampered him in the playoffs, will also be back.

"Jeremy Lieberman, Max Hoetzel and Austin Smith return as a very experienced core," Palarz said. "Each of them is, arguably, the best returning player at his position in the league."

Lieberman is a point guard, but at 6-2, he can shoot as well as any shooting guard around. Hoetzel, a 6-8 small forward, and Smith, can both shoot very well from the perimeter. Smith adds a post game that makes him an force inside.

Although Lieberman was torrid in the first half against Compton, in the third quarer, when he missed two straight 3-pointers and - uncharacteristically - two free throws, he started driving to the basket with a vengeance.

To do that as adroitly as he did against as quick a team as Calabasas is likely to face, bodes well for Lieberman and the Coyotes. Palarz said Lieberman's incredible outside shot needs a counterpart.

"His strength has (also) been his liability, in that he's such a good shooter that he can be a little bit one-dimensional," Palarz said of Lieberman. "And so, my hope is that he'll be able to penetrate as well as be an effective perimeter scoring threat."

Hoetzel knocked down four 3-pointers in the third quarter against Compton, but the Coyotes coach - who said Hoetzel scored more than 20 in the second half of a holiday tournament game - was as impressed with his 12 rebounds.

"He's capable of scoring in bunches," Palarz said of Hoetzel. "He's shown flashes of that. What I really like is that he's a player who contributes not just as a shooter, but he's becoming a better defender and a good rebounder."

Smith, though an inch 'shorter' than Hoetzel, is more comfortable mixing it up underneath the basket. And yet, he shot over 40 percent from 3-point range this year.

"He's a rugged player," Palarz said Smith. "He always gives a great effort, he's a really good shooter and he's kind of unique in that he's our best post player and one of our best (outside) shooters all in the same person."

Hayon started when senior guard Danny Azran was out with a back injury during the latter part of the year. Azran came back to play during the Coyotes' final three games.

Of Hayon, the sophomore, Palarz said: "His size was an asset to us. I think he's going to be a capable rebounder, defender, inside scorer and he's a good passer. He's got a bright future."

An unheralded yet invaluable senior class

Alex Monsegue, a senior guard, who started along with Azran, may not have lit up the stat sheet with points, but his contribution to the Coyotes was still praiseworthy.

"He was a co-captain and defensive stopper for us who was one of the most athletic players in the area," Palarz said of Monsegue.

"The senior class, they had great chemistry and were a very tight-knit group that provided a number of intangibles. Even if they weren't among the top scorers they had key roles on the team."

Azran played through pain the last three games and senior guards Cooper Pedati and Kenny Marshall could be counted on to come off the bench and hit key shots, stretching out the opponents' defense.

Itamar Erster, Max Goltz, Garrett Katz and Blake Blacklidge were part of the Coyotes' team tasked with preparing the starters for an upcoming game by role-playing the next opponents' players.

"You've got to have guys like that to make your team go," Palarz said. "We had good practices and we had a really deep team this year so it was hard to get everybody minutes on the floor.

"But they contributed through the whole process of putting the team together."