The heavenly moment La Mirada High won the state basketball title was captured for posterity by a Long Beach Press-Telegram photographer.
It shows the Matadores’ Vittorio Reynoso-Avila in the middle of Cal's Haas Pavilion court, preparing to jump into the arms of teammate Dylan Banks. Rushing to join the fray are teammates Anthony Newman and Dezmon Murphy.
La Mirada had rallied from 12 points behind late in the third quarter to tie Mitty by the end of regulation before winning the Division II title in double-overtime, 71-70, on a free throw with 9.1 seconds left by Kai Labasan.
“It was indescribable,” Reynoso-Avila said. “It was a great feeling of accomplishment, especially after losing in (the CIF-Southern Section playoffs) and some of the ups and downs we had. It was all we ever wanted and to have it finally happen – we were in a state of shock.”
Reynoso-Avila, then a junior, scored 14 points and took eight rebounds in the pressure-packed game. He made four 3-pointers, all of them in either the fourth quarter or overtime.
“Mitty was a great team,” Reynoso-Avila said. “They had a good game plan, to limit our attacking the basket and force us to shoot 3s. But we made 14 3s and that’s hard to beat.”
Reynoso-Avila will be on the court for the Southern California 2016 all-stars at 3:30 p.m. Sunday at Las Positas College as they take on NorCal in the Prep2Prep California Classic All-Star Game.
The state championship medal Reynoso-Avila earned that memorable day now sits on his desk at home. Soon his state championship ring will arrive. But for as much as Reynoso-Avila and the Matadores accomplished last season – the school’s first state championship – he’s done even more in the classroom.
The La Mirada senior guard has a 4.7 grade point average while taking college prep classes, including five Advanced Placement courses last year. This semester he’ll take three more AP classes – statistics, literature and government.
It’s not all God-given smarts either -- Reynoso-Avila has worked at it. His step-father Marcus Hough and mother Malena put down their collective foot before he entered high school – get all As or no basketball.
“At first it was difficult, but then I learned to manage my time better and studying became a habit,” Reynoso-Avila said. “In eighth grade when I was playing AAU my grades slipped a little and I had to sit out a month. I never let that happen again.”
Said Malena: “We knew he was a bright kid. He knows stuff you wouldn’t expect him to. Like once we were building something and he looked at a piece of wood and said ‘That’s a two-by-14.’ My husband said ‘That’s spot-on.’
“When he was playing travel ball he got straight As and a few of his teammates got As too, but we found out they had tutors, and Vittorio didn’t. We asked him how he did it without a tutor and he said ‘I read the textbooks.’”
On the court, the 6-foot-5 Reynoso-Avila is also a quick study, averaging 12.6 points and 6.3 rebounds for the 31-5 Matadores. He made 35 percent (39 of 111) of his 3-pointers.
At one point a slasher who didn’t care much for the outside shot, Reynoso-Avila extended his range early in high school at the urging of La Mirada assistant coach Charlie Torres. Ever the scholar, Reynoso-Avila studied top NBA scorers like James Harden, Kevin Durant, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson and noticed they all had deadly outside shots.
“They can all make 3s,” he said. “I knew that if I wanted to make it to the next level, I’d need to have a shooter's mentality and keep on shooting, even if I was missing. The top scorers know that if they can hit from outside, it opens up the court.”
The Mat guard’s strategy has paid off. Said a Scout.com assessment of his game after last season: “One of the West Coast’s most under-recruited prospects in 2016 is La Mirada wing Vittorio Reynoso-Avila. The rising senior is extremely long and a versatile defender … he has a very high basketball IQ and is a terrific passer. He’s a much-improved shooter and can now knock down jumpers out to the three.”
Malena, a mother of three who attended the same high school (Hawthorne) as the Beach Boys’ Brian and Dennis Wilson, is most excited to see her son mature and start to become a man.
“I just love seeing him come into his own,” she said. “He used to be such a serious kid. Now he laughs and makes jokes.” Middle school is tough and when you start high school that’s a tough time too. Everybody is judging everyone. But now it’s just like he’s ‘Hey, I’m me and everything’s good.’ He doesn’t worry about outsiders’ opinions.”
The teen is even good with kids, putting up with the smack-talk of his wiseacre 9-year-old sister Winona, even when she needles big brother’s high school teammates.
“They have a tight relationship,” Malena said.
Given Reynoso-Avila’s talent and smarts, Harvard, Yale, Stanford, UC Santa Barbara and Eastern Washington have all expressed interest in him.
“I’m glad my parents pushed academics because I have a lot of doors open to me now,” he said. “I have more options than if I was just a good basketball player.”
