TEMECULA — A third matchup against a league opponent in the CIF Southern Section playoffs is a rarity. But Friday night, that’s exactly what happened as Southwestern League champion Murrieta Mesa traveled to Temecula Valley for a Division 3 boys basketball second-round playoff game. And unlike J an. 6, when the Rams dropped a 83-78 decision that would be their only loss in league play, Murrieta Mesa felt right at home in the Bear Cave. Murrieta Mesa trailed only once and prevailed 88-67 after seeing a 24-point lead get whittled down to 13 in the fourth quarter. The Rams advanced to their first quarterfinal in school history and will host Ontario Christian, a 54-52 winner over San Marino, on Tuesday night. “In that fourth quarter, I was telling the guys that they aged me about five years while Temecula Valley was making that run,” Rams coach Chris Featherly said. “Temecula Valley is a wel- coached team and we knew they weren’t just going to roll over in that second half. Sure enough, they battled and gave us some things to work on going into Tuesday, but we’re playing some pretty good basketball and are excited to host a solid Ontario Christian team.” Carlito Christian scored eight straight points for Mesa to jump out to an 8-5 lead after Maximus Goettsche connected on a 3-pointer 35 seconds into the game, giving Temecula Valley their lone lead of 3-0. Liam Hodgkinson’s floater with 2:54 left in the first quarter cut Murrieta Mesa’s lead to 11-10. However, the Rams went on a 13-2 run to close the quarter and led 23-13 with 8 minutes gone. Fabian Ruiz had eight of his game-high 28 points in the run, including a pair of 3-pointers with one just beating the buzzer. “I really didn’t want to play another Southwestern League team in the playoffs but at the end of the day it’s about playing whoever is in front of you and going 1-0 to keep this thing going,” Ruiz said. Murrieta Mesa went on a 12-0 run covering 2:45 in the second quarter to push their lead to a then game-high 22 points. Kingston Saul had six straight points on layups to start it and a free throw by Christian capped off the run. Ray Riley’s 3-pointer at the buzzer sent the Rams to intermission with a 46-27 lead. “This is going to be the start of something great for Mesa in boys basketball,” Christian said. “We’ve had a tunnel vision about us since we got together in summer and fall and put the work into being a great team. We’re excited it’s paying off like this but there’s still more to do.” Temecula Valley battled in the third quarter but trailed 67-43 with a quarter left. Golden Bears junior guard Evan Fratt put Temecula Valley on his back, scoring 12 of his team-high 20 points in the final period as they fought and cut the deficit to 13 with 4:04 left. However, that’s as close as the Golden Bears got. Jagger Saul hit a 3-pointer with 3:40 left to put the Rams up by 16 and quash any hopes of another Temecula Valley rally. Related Articles Centennial boys basketball team outpaces Etiwanda in Open Division action Norte Vista boys soccer team falls in overtime to Culver City IE Varsity’s CIF Southern Section playoff scoreboard for Feb. 13 Bishop Amat freshman Omar Cox-Labomme leads comeback over Chino Hills Blair boys basketball battles back from double-digit deficit to beat Bonita ...read more read less