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In a rematch of last season’s Central Coast Section Division V championship game, Sacred Heart Prep found a way to ruin the Priory’s hopes with a 67-66 overtime victory on Friday in a West Bay Athletic League (Foothill Division) boys’ basketball game.
The Gators went into last season’s CCS finale as underdogs, and likely were playing that role again Friday without leading scorer Reed McConnell. Sacred Heart (2-0, 6-5), however, once again found a way to pull out the victory while dropping the Panthers to 1-2 in league (7-5 overall).
With McConnell sidelined, senior Ryan Sakowski stepped up and produced a career-high 28 points. He made six three-pointers, the biggest one coming with just six seconds left in overtime.
Trailing by 66-64, Sakowski took a pass from Kevin Lamb, found some space from behind a screen and launched the game-winner.
Ironically, during the football season it was Sakowski throwing the passes and Lamb being on the receiving end. Sakowski had a big hand in the SHP football team’s remarkable success this season and some of that magic evidently carried over into Friday’s big showdown.
Sakowski’s effort proved very big because the Gators lost starting center John Melen to fouls in overtime. He finished with a season-high 21 points before taking a seat. Priory, meanwhile, lost four players to fouls — leaving first-year coach David Moseley scrambling at the end.
Sacred Heart rallied from a 64-61 deficit with 37 seconds left in overtime. Alex Baloff’s basket made it a 65-64 game, setting up Sakowski’s winning basket. Sakowski helped set up the extra period by making four consecutive free throws following a foul and technical with 1:16 left in regulation, putting SHP in the lead at 55-54. Regulation ended at 56-all.
Priory was led by Andras Helmeczi and Brandon Willhite, both with 15 points. Keaton Carano added 11. Both teams had plenty of opportunities to win the game at the free-throw line, but Priory missed 11 charity tosses and SHP misfired 21 times.
On Saturday, Sacred Heart Prep stretched its winning streak to six games with a 57-47 nonleague victory over host San Mateo.
The game didn’t have the excitement of the Gators’ overtime win over Priory on Friday, but Sacred Heart Prep (7-5) nonetheless grinded it out for back-to-back wins on the weekend. Baloff and Melen combined for 22 points to lead the Gators, who made 27 of 33 free throws in a game that saw 55 attempts. SHP missed 21 attempts on Friday but still won.
Sacred Heart Prep will return to WBAL action on Tuesday at Eastside Prep at 5 p.m.
Getting 22 points from Ivan Prema and 20 from DJ Williams, Eastside Prep moved into a tie for first place in the WBAL with a 65-54 victory over host Pinewood on Friday night.
The Panthers (2-0, 9-3), who beat Crystal Springs to open its season earlier in the week, can take over sole possession of first place by beating visiting Sacred Heart Prep (2-0, 7-5) on Tuesday.
Eastside Prep grabbed a 34-20 halftime lead against Pinewood. Prema had five three-pointers and Bryan Alas made three while scoring 11 points. Conner Whitlock led Pinewood (0-3, 6-6) with 24 points and Darius McClelland added 11.
Sacred Heart Prep and Eastside Prep are battling for first place because league-favorite Menlo was upset at home on Friday by Harker, 56-52. The Knights fell to 1-1 in league (7-3 overall) and out of a share of first place.
Menlo was still playing without starters Alex Smith and Max Glenn and their absences were noticeable. Seniors Will Tashman and Kenny Diekroeger combined for 35 points, with Tashman tallying 20 and grabbing eight rebounds. Jerry Rice Jr. added nine points but the Knights missed the rebounding and scoring of the 6-4 Smith and 6-3 Glenn.
The Knights trailed by 28-16 at the half and made a late run with a 23-point final quarter.
In the SCVAL De Anza Division:
It wasn’t pretty but it was effective. Bottom line, the Gunn boys’ basketball team opened its league season with a 50-43 victory over visiting Wilcox on Friday night.
“A win is a win,” said Gunn coach Chris Redfield. That is probably the best way to explain the Titans’ sluggish effort while improving to 12-4 overall this season.
Both teams had a sluggish first half that saw the scored tied at 16 at intermission. Max Minowitz opened the scoring with a basket to put Gunn up 18-16 to start the second half, but Wilcox answered with three straight three pointers to go up 25-18 and looked like the Chargers might control the game.
A key problem for Gunn was its inability to score consistently for three quarters. Gunn threw up shots that only a masonry worker would have been proud of as the Titans couldn’t buy a basket for periods of time. That, however, all changed in the fourth period.
The Titans’ defense kept them in the game as Gunn only trailed 28-26 after three. Still trailing (33-30) with seven minutes left, the Titans finally woke up on offense and went on a 17-3 run over the next six minutes. Stephan Castro started the rally with two nice inside moves that resulted in baskets to give Gunn a 34-33 lead. Kyle Perricone followed with four three throws and when he scored a basket with 2:16 left, Gunn had a 10-point lead at 40-33.
Wilcox scored a three-pointer to make it 40-36, but the Titans then ran off seven in a row to clinch the game. Perricone led Gunn with 20 points. Bharat Reddy and Castro each scored eight.
Gunn takes its 1-0 league mark to Los Gatos on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. contest.
–PA Weekly Online Sports
–PA Weekly Online Sports
–PA Weekly Online Sports
