SAN BRUNO, CA – Last season Henry James was a lightly used sophomore on a Serra team that won the Division II state championship. Now James is a junior with the look of a star on a team in search of one.
Monday night it was James’ 3-point basket with four seconds left that propelled Serra to a 47-44 win against Half Moon Bay. The victory came in the championship of the Skyline Tournament.
“I wasn’t thinking much,” James said of his clutch shot. “(Justin Matsu) made a great pass and I knocked it down.”
James, the tournament’s most valuable player, also swished a 3-pointer with 1:54 left to end an eight-point Half Moon Bay run and give the Padres a 44-41 lead. Unfazed, Half Moon Bay’s Miro Cavanagh got a shooter’s role on a 3-pointer with 1:28 left to tie the game.
“That was a big one,” Serra coach Chuck Rapp said. “I think he got every part of the rim with that shot and it just fell in. Sometimes something like that is an omen that it’s not going to be your day.”
Rapp had a recent hip surgery that he said has left him sore. But he seemed to have a bit more spring in his step after his young team knocked off a Cougar squad that had only six players (HMB starter Andrew Saffold missed the game with a knee injury and a handful of two-sport players were unavailable).
Serra was missing 7-foot junior Jack Wilson, the former Cunha Intermediate of Half Moon Bay player who was participating in a travel ball tournament in Oregon.
James was present and accounted for though, especially when Serra needed him the most.
“I’m adjusting to a different role this year,” the 6-foot-1 guard said. “It’s a learning experience. I’m having a lot of fun.”
James’ difficult turn-around shot from 15 feet gave Serra a 22-21 lead at the half. The Padres increased that margin to 28-21 in the first three minutes of the second half on a lay-up by Andrew Olson.
Half Moon Bay then rattled off 10 consecutive points to lead 31-28, with Ethan Menzies scoring six of those points.
The game see-sawed the rest of the way until Serra looked like it might break things open when it took a 41-33 lead with 5:08 left. But Half Moon Bay roared back to tie it and set the stage for James’ late heroics.
“It was a great effort for having six guys,” Half Moon Bay coach Rich Forslund said. “We played our (rears) off for only having six guys. It was fantastic. Just being able to compete was a good thing because they had quite a few of their guys. We did all right. We just need more depth.”
Besides tourney MVP James, Olson and Mohammadi made the all-tourney squad for Serra. Menzies and Ryan Yerby made all-tourney for Half Moon Bay. The rest of the all-tourney team consisted of Brandon Matsuno (Mills), Moises Sandoval (Archbishop Riordan), Josh Cobillas (San Mateo), Isaac Finestone (Lowell), Jacob Moeller (Tamalpais) and Eric DeBrine (Sacred Heart Prep).
