SAN FRANCISCO — Monday’s annual meeting between Stuart Hall and Mission turned into a track meet, as it often does, and when the guests from Mission cut a 16-point lead back to single digits, it was Stuart Hall sophomore Nigel Burris’ crisp passing that carried the Knights to a 69-58 victory.
Burris made two excellent passes in the fourth quarter and scored seven of his game-high 19 points in the period as Stuart Hall (10-4) beat the Bears for a second straight year. Baskets by Matt Cohn and Ben Knight cut the lead to 51-40 to end the third quarter, but a brilliant pass in the lane from Burris to Jay-Henry Ryan to open the fourth quarter started a 9-4 run for the Knights, with Ryan scoring again to answer a basket by Knight and Burris scoring five more to build the lead to 60-44 before a 7-0 run by Mission (5-9), including a three by David Sonnier, to give the Bears one last shot at 60-51.
A turnover gave the visitors a chance to get as close as six, but the Bears came up empty. After an offensive rebound, Burris made a great pass through traffic to Spencer O’Brien-Steele, who scored eight points off the bench in his return from injury, to put the lead back at double-digits. Jaraughn Torno did hit a 3-pointer on the next possession, but The Hall would score the next seven points to put the game away, capped off by a Miles Amos and-1.
The 6-6 sophomore was also instrumental as the Knights opened up a 33-24 halftime lead, with seven points in the second quarter. His layup off a Tomas Wolber assist opened up a five-point lead, and after a common foul plus a technical foul, Burris and Kyle Jasper each made two free throws to close out the half. That momentum carried into the third, where a Jasper 3-pointer grew the lead to 15. Two O’Brien-Steele free throws made it 51-36 before Mission scored twice in the final 35 seconds of the quarter and even had a chance to get the lead to single-digits off a turnover.
Burris completed his double-double with 12 rebounds, while Amos scored 13 points and added eight rebounds. Ryan and Alex Byrd each had eight, while Knight had 18 for Mission and Torno finished with 16 behind four 3-pointers.
