Modesto Christian overcame a packed, rowdy crowd in San Mateo to defeat Serra 53-48 and advance to the regional finals of the 2015 CIF State Open Division playoffs.
The Padres rushed out to a 10-2 early advantage and a 18-12 first quarter lead as senior Jimmy Wohrer scored eight of his team high 15 points in the quarter. Serra maintained that six point advantage at 29-23 at halftime before extending to a game high 10 point margin early in the third quarter.
The Crusaders used their interior tandem of Anthony Townes and Robinson Idehen to rally 43-41 to end the quarter. Serra had trouble scoring in the final quarter while Modesto Christian continued to use their size advantage to win 53-48.
Serra finishes the season at 23-6 after going further in the West Catholic League and in the postseason than preseason expectations. No player on Serra had more than four rebounds as the team totaled 19 rebounds for the game. However, Serra's 18 field goal makes resulted in 16 total assists. 6-foot-10 Jack Wilson, only a freshman, and junior forward Jake Killingsworth will be the pillars for next year's team as they battled hard against the Crusader post players.
Modesto Christian dominated the boards in the second half as the Crusaders had 35 total rebounds with senior Townes, a Pacific commit, and junior Christian Ellis grabbing 10 rebounds each. Townes and Idehen each made eight field goals to score 19 and 18 points respectively. Ellis and senior Jeff Wu, a Sacramento State commit, played more intense perimeter defense during the second half as Serra only had one 3-point make. Modesto Christian's 17 offensive rebounds gave them 14 more field goal attempts than Serra for the game.
The Crusaders hit the 30 win mark as they move to 30-3. Modesto Christian faces Bishop O'Dowd in the regional finals as the Dragons won 75-57 against Folsom.
Modesto Christian's starting five is strong but the roster goes only seven deep. Bishop O'Dowd has a deeper rotation in addition to national prospect, Ivan Rabb, Boise State commit Paris Austin, Isaiah Thomas who is headed to Northern Arizona.
Last season, Modesto Christian lost to Bishop O'Dowd twice, including a season ending 74-51 loss in the Open Division playoffs.
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