It didn’t take long for the Woodside Priory boys’ basketball team to make history by winning its first Private Schools Athletic League championship.
The Panthers (14-0, 21-3) jumped out to a 22-4 first-quarter lead and coasted from there while posting a 70-55 win over visiting Redwood Christian on Feb. 8 night in Portola Valley. It was the team’s 15th-straight victory.
Priory’s 7-foot-1 junior center Greg Somogyi continued his season-long improvement with a team-high 19 points plus six blocks. Greg’s older brother, 6-4 George, added 13 points while sophomore guards Nate Feldman and Kyle Berka combined for 18 points and four three-pointers.
Senior Reggie Willhite, the team’s leading scorer, settled for eight points but added seven assists and four blocks.
“It was real good team balance tonight where our guys kept finding the open man,” said Woodside Priory coach Al Klein.
Priory has two games remaining before heading into the Central Coast Section playoffs as the prohibitive favorite to win its first-ever Division V crown.
Sacred Heart Prep (10-3, 13-8), meanwhile, finally ran out of time in its chasing of Woodside Priory, which twice beat the Gators this season. The Gators had to overcome yet another slow start, scoring just four points in the first quarter, and didn’t take the lead until the fourth quarter while defeating host Pinewood, 44-39.
Sacred Heart Prep finally grabbed the lead when senior Mike McMahon hit a three-pointer early in the final period. McMahon finished with a team-high 15 points to go with four steals. Greg Casciaro pulled down nine rebounds.
