Greyhound boys hoops eliminated in second round of state playoffs

By Michael Chaldu · Wed Mar 11 2026

Despite fourth-quarter surge, Atascadero High falls to Colony of Ontario 67-61

ATASCADERO — Despite being seeded 13th out of 16 teams in the Division III Southern California bracket of the CIF State Playoffs, the Atascadero High boys basketball team proved to be a very tough out in the tournament.

Two days after upsetting No. 4 Warren in Downey, the Greyhounds traveled to Ontario on March 5 to face No. 5 Colony High. AHS trailed for most of the first three quarters before going on a run and gaining a one-point lead late, but the host Titans rallied for a 67-61 victory to end the Hounds' season.

AHS finished with a 21-11 record for the season (4-4 in the Mountain League). The Greyhounds earned their spot in the state playoffs by making the Central Section title game as the top seed in Division II, earning runner-up honors after losing to Clovis 65-47 in Fresno on Feb. 27.

The two state games seemed like mismatches to the uneducated eye that only sees 13 vs. 4 or 13 vs. 5, but AHS head coach Augie Johnston knew his team was up for the challenge.

"We looked at the rankings, then got our seed and thought it was too low, but we didn’t take it to heart," Johnston said. "We looked at the film and records of the opponents, but we knew we would have a chance. We had a veteran team, mostly seniors and juniors, and five really good players."

Like its first-round state playoff game against Warren in Downey, the Greyhounds found themselves playing catch-up for the first three quarters and then shifting into a higher gear in the fourth period to make a game of it. However, unlike Warren two days earlier, Colony was up for the challenge.

The host Titans jumped out to a 20-12 lead at the end of the first period, and opened up a lead as high as 15 (29-14) in the second before the teams went to the locker room at halftime with Colony up 32-23.

The Greyhounds played the Titans tough in the third, but still had an 8-point deficit (50-42) at the end of the period. However, the start of the fourth, and final, quarter was also the start of the Atascadero comeback.

"We changed defenses on them for that fourth quarter," Johnston said. "We just did our press, did what we did best and caught up."

The Greyhounds Isaiah Rodriguez made a steal and basket to cut the lead to 6. Then Damon Mitchell hit consecutive baskets to make it 52-48. Then, on the next possession, Shea Buckley drove the lane, scored on the layup, and drew a foul. He hit the foul shot to make it 52-51.

It was nip-and-tuck for the teams when at the 2:45 mark, Colony was called for a technical foul. Rodriguez made the two foul shots, and then on the ensuing possession, hit a 3-pointer for a 61-60 AHS lead with 2:39 left in the game.

That would be the first lead of the game for the Greyhounds, but it would also be their last, and short-lived.

Destin Strauther, the Titans' talented point guard put in a layup with just over 2 minutes left to regain the lead. From there Colony would shut out AHS and add a few more points for the 67-61 final.

"We dug a hole for ourselves in the first three quarters," Johnston said. "We made our run to catch them, but then they made their run; having that lead early put them in a good position."

While Atascadero saw its season end, Colony would go on to the Southern California regional final on Tuesday, March 10, where it lost to LA-based Birmingham High 73-58.

The defeat ended another successful season for the Greyhounds under Johnston. The 21-11 record marked the third straight winning season for AHS, and it first 20-win campaign since 2013-14.

With the season done, the coach will say goodbye to eight seniors, including standouts like Shea Buckley, Damon Mitchell, and Isaiah Rodriguez. However, next year he welcomes back some impactful juniors from this year's team, including Timothy Kyle Foster and Dane Stover, among others.

"I'm not going to sit here and say it'll be easy to replace a guy like Shea, or Isaiah, or Damon," Johnston said. "But I return five juniors, four good players, and one’s a starter.

And there's also players coming up from the ninth- and 10th-grade ranks.

"Out freshman team was second in the Mountain League behind St. Joseph, and our JV team was good too," Johnston continued. "We'll have some height next year — I have a 6'7" freshman coming up and some players who are all 6'4" and above."

And Johnston will do it with the support of the AHS faithful.

"I'm very lucky to have the situation I have in Atascadero," he said. "We always have some good players here, and we have parents who come out for every game and are supportive."

Feature Image by Nora B. Rodriguez 2/AHS Sports