Menlo boys’ basketball team is headed to the CCS Div. IV Championship after a 59-55 win over The King’s Academy at home Thursday.

The teams have met three times this season and each time, the game was decided by 4 points or fewer with Menlo winning two, including the regular-season finale to determine home-court advantage for CCS. Menlo defeated TKA handily in the semifinals before winning its last section championship in 2022.

“I always say King’s is our biggest rivalry, our games are always super close,” said senior Sam Reznik. Brought me back to sophomore year when we played them in the semifinals at their place. I didn’t want to lose on our home court for our final game.”

No. 2 seed Menlo improved to 16-10 overall and will play top seed Carrmel (23-3) in Saturday’s championship at 7:00 pm at Mission College. The teams met earlier in the season and Menlo won 72-61 at home.

Reznik finished with 16 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. Sophomore Ethan Zhao had 15 points and three assists while junior Tate Cohen added 13. Seniors Adam Karr pitched in with 10 points, five rebounds and three assists while Julian Brooks added five assists.

TKA made a charge late in the fourth getting to within 7 with 1:30 left before a pair of baskets from Caleb Hughley and Bryce Sherman and Menlo led 53-51 with 35.9 seconds left. Senior Sam Reznik drew a foul, making both free throws to extend the lead to four again. TKA scores, then Menlo’s Adam Karr is fouled on a rebound attempt, and he too, buried two free throws for a 57-55 lead with 10 seconds left. Finally, Reznik is fouled, makes both free throws before TKA misses its last shot and Menlo’s Aidan Stull comes down with the ball.

It wasn’t where Menlo wanted to be after getting off to such a fast start, but Reznik knows a bit about clutch shots. He swished a three-pointer to give Menlo the lead in the waning seconds of the 2022 CCS Championship game against Palma.

“I’ve been in that situation before. I know all those guys trust me down there, and I know how much work we put in as a team so at the end of the day, you just got to believe,” Reznik said.

Menlo used a 7-0 run to start the game and built a 20-5 first-quarter lead. Zhao and Cohen combined for 15 in that first quarter.