January 30, 2011
Aaron Gordon lived up to his billing as one of the top 2013 basketball prospects in the country in RivalsHigh 100 No. 68-ranked San Jose (Calif.) Archbishop Mitty's 61-53 victory against league rival, San Mateo (Calif.) Serra. Gordon had a double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds. More impressively, he had two acrobatic dunks that even got a rise out of Padres fans.
The first quarter was a defensive struggle as the Monarchs scored first to take a 3-0 lead. Serra would score its only field goal of the quarter in the first minute of the quarter to trail 3-2. The Padres would trail 10-2 before scoring one free throw with 2 seconds left to trail at the end of the quarter 10-3.
Serra was able to make a run in the second quarter to tie the game at 14-14 with 4:15 left in the quarter. Gordon took a half court lob for the first of his two acrobatic dunks but picked up his third personal foul with 1:30 left. Mitty took a 25-22 lead into the half as Serra was able to keep it close due to Mitty being in the penalty early in the quarter.
The Padres scored the first two field goals to take their only lead of the game at 26-25 with 6:11 in the third quarter. Neil Vranicar and Kyle Toth of Mitty each hit two 3-point goals in the quarter. The Monarchs were able to increase the margin to 44-37 at the end of the quarter.
Serra was able to cut the deficit to 4 points at 51-47 in the fourth quarter. The Padres had a few open looks on possessions that could have trimmed the lead to a one possession game but could not convert. The highlight of the quarter was a lob from the 3-point line that Gordon dunked with his left hand as Mitty would go on to win 61-53.
Notes
How this game was won: The Monarch defense limited the Padres to 2-for-15 in 3-point shooting and 37 percent overall. Conversely, the Monarchs went 6-for-9 in 3-point shooting and shot 48 percent overall for the game.
Turning Point: After Serra took a brief 26-25 lead in the third quarter, Mitty started hitting its 3-point shots to put some distance from the Padres.
Mitty analysis: Gordon expected the game to be physical as the first meeting was physical. He felt that the defensive effort had to pick up in this game for the Monarchs to be successful. Mitty has an eight player rotation that has a good blend of interior and exterior players. Even when Gordon was on the bench, Vranicar and Brandon White brought some size. Toth and Colin Wan bring a stable back court. The only blemish was the 10 for 22 free throw shooting.
Serra analysis: Coach Chuck Rapp felt that his team had many open shots that they could not hit. He also said that the defense gave too many points as the team has to play at a lower scoring pace. Gordon was disruptive to any Serra interior scoring, which resulted in the Padres depending on their perimeter game that was only 37 percent overall.
Up next for Mitty: Mitty moves to 17-2 with an 8-1 league mark. A win next Saturday against league 2nd place San Francisco (Calif.) Sacred Heart Cathedral could wrap up the league regular season for Mitty. The Monarchs look to be league favorites still.
Up next for Serra: Serra drops to 14-5 with a 5-4 league mark and consecutive losses. Sacred Heart Cathedral is its toughest league game in the final five games. Serra looks to finish in the top half of the league and could get a third chance against Mitty in the playoffs.
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