The public schools gave a valiant effort but
were overwhelmed in the end by their private West Catholic Athletic
League (WCAL) opponents in the opening round of the bottom half of the
Central Coast Section Open Division bracket. Santa Cruz led most of
their battle with St. Francis but ran out of gas in overtime to lose
68-58 in the opening game at Piedmont Hills. Menlo-Atherton from the
Peninsula South League kept it close with WCAL opponent Archbishop Mitty
but ended up losing 47-42.
The eight seed
Santa Cruz from the Santa Cruz Coast League rushed out to a 19-9 first
quarter lead on accurate perimeter shooting. St. Francis caused many
turnovers but could not convert nor make a perimeter shot. The
top-seeded Lancer offense settled down in the second quarter as they hit
two 3-point shots to trail 30-23 at the half.
The
Lancers worked all the way back to a 41-39 advantage at the 1:40 mark
in the third quarter before the quarter ended at 41-41. Despite being
shorter and having less depth, Santa Cruz was on the verge of winning as
the Cardinals led 56-51 with 57 seconds left. The Lancers made a timely
3-point shot and then converted on a layup on a turnover from the
following in-bounds. The teams exchanged one free throw and exchanged
turnovers with Santa Cruz getting blocked on a breakaway to end
regulation at 57-57. Without any interior offense and no longer making
their perimeter shots, Santa Cruz got blitzed in the four minute
overtime session to lose 68-58.
Both
Menlo-Atherton and Archbishop Mitty were evenly matched up in terms of
size and depth. The first quarter was a 12-12 tie while the Bears were
able to take a 24-22 lead at the half. Menlo-Atherton scored half their
points on four 3-point shots while Riley Grigsby accounted for 12 points
for the Monarchs.
Menlo-Atherton kept
shooting from the perimeter but only made one more 3-point shot in the
second half. Despite this, the Bears led 35-34 after the third quarter
but the lack of offense caught up to them in the fourth quarter as Mitty
lived at the free throw line as the Monarchs had 23 attempts compared
to nine for the Bears in the game. The contest was still tied 38-38
midway in the final quarter before the Monarchs pulled away 47-42.
Players of Note:
Curtis
Witt 6-foot-3 PG St Francis (2016): Witt was a stabilizing factor on
the offense as he scored 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting including three
3-point shots. His perimeter game gave him several driving
opportunities. The Lancer frontcourt was bailed out by the guard play,
especially from Witt.
Kaijae Yee-Stephens
6-foot-2 G Santa Cruz (2016): In a losing effort, Yee-Stephens led all
scorers with 26 points on 10-of-27 shooting as the Cardinals had eight
total points from their front court. The Lancer defense keyed on the
perimeter, which caused Yee-Stephens to put up several contested shots.
He has a quick release and suspends well mid-air to create some shooting
space.
Riley Grigsby
6-foot-5 Wing Archbishop Mitty (2018): With Ben Kone injured, Grigsby
was the offensive focal point for the Monarchs. He has a nice high
perimeter release while having good length to get to the basket quickly.
He had 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting with two 3-point shots.
Nick
Labruna 6-foot-5 PF Archbishop Mitty (2016): The brawny forward played
to his strength, which was staying in the post and making contact. The
senior led all scores with 15 points on 3-of-5 shooting including nine
free throws.
Blake Henry 6-foot-7 PF
Menlo-Atherton (2016): Henry led the Bears with 13 points on 6-of-12
shooting but took a few ill-advised perimeter shots when he was the
biggest post player for Menlo-Atherton. With Kone out, Henry had the
height advantage in the post and was able to convert on a few nice post
moves but could have taken advantage more times.
Next up:
Mitty
will try to avenge the two losses against St. Francis from the regular
season, 62-60 and 67-55. The Lancers have the size and depth advantage
against the Monarchs. The Monarch backcourt will have their hands full
on both ends.
Both
Bellarmine and Serra, WCAL members as well, also advanced in the upper
half of the Open Division bracket. Serra won both meetings during the
regular season.
Both games will be on Tuesday starting at 5:30 PM at Independence High School.
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