NEWARK, CA -- Drake coach Doug Donnellan, with the post-game press conference complete, could only shake his head after his team's frustrating 65-64 loss to Moreau Catholic.
The setback came in Game 3 of the Prep2Prep Tip-Off Classic on Saturday at Newark Memorial High.
"Fourteen of 25 from the line, and four of those misses were front ends," said Donnellan, rolling his eyes.
Yes, Pirates' star Jesse Hunt, the native Australian, had two chances to possibly win the game in the game's final, frantic seconds. First a left-handed lay-in by Hunt under heavy pressure applied by Moreau star Oscar Frayer barely missed.
Then after the ball went out of bounds with 2.1 seconds left and Drake in possession, a pass again went to Hunt in the middle of the paint against Moreau's zone defense. The Mariners collapsed on the Pirates' star but he maneuvered and got a good look at a 12-footer at the buzzer, only to watch the ball tantalizingly bound twice off the rim and roll off as the final seconds ticked away.
Said Knight of the final shot: "I felt like it was Duke against Kentucky all over again with Christian Laettner getting the ball. Jesse got a good look and he's crafty. I'm just glad that shot missed."
It was a tough ending for Hunt, the Eastern Washington commit, who led Drake with 19 points and 11 rebounds, but also only went 4-for-10 from the line.
"Jesse had some free throws rim in and out," Donnellan said. "And we made some mistakes that we usually don't and that's tough on the road against a team like this."
Moreau was missing super soph Damari Milstead who broke a team rule, according to Knight and will be sidelined for a few weeks. But the Mariners are still loaded with talent, most notably junior Oscar Frayer, a Cal commit, who finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds.
The Mariners also got 20 points apiece from Terrell Brown and Brandon Lawrence, including a big three-pointer from Lawrence from the corner that put Moreau up by one with 18 seconds left.
"It was one of my better games," Lawrence said. "I just try to help the team any way I can."
Lawrence scored 20-plus points twice last season against rival Salesian, helping the underclassmen-laden Mariners to the CIF-State title game.
As for Frayer, he was a factor on defense as well as offense. Said the Moreau standout of
guarding Hunt with the game on the line: "He's a great player. You just hope to contain him and that he misses."
Drake was disappointed after, but not devastated. It knows it has a top team and performed well against the gifted Mariners.
"I see bright things (ahead)," Hunt said. "We're ranked No. 10 (in NorCal) and they're No. 4. I think this game proved we can play with anyone."
Backing Hunt for Drake, which led 36-27 at the half, were Jasper Verduin and Dane Wells with 12 points apiece. Malik Huff added seven points and 15 rebounds.
But in the end a Moreau third-quarter surge -- it out-scored Drake 21-11 in that stanza -- and too many missed charities scuttled Pirate hopes.
Modesto Christian 89, Bullard-Fresno 65
The Crusaders took a 14-0 lead after one quarter and cruised to the victory.
Anthony Townes scored 25 points and took 21 rebounds for Modesto Christian. Christian Ellis contributed 24 points, 13 rebounds and three assists.
Bullard was led by Marquis Macumba with 22 points and eight rebounds.
College Park 65, St. Mary's-Stockton 58
College Park led by four at halftime and then eased to victory in the second half. Steven Daily led College Park with 21 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Arash Aliyar scored all 18 points of his points in the second half and hit 3-of-5 3-pointers.
"The game plan was to shut down their two best players Jacob Aruta and Lance (Coleman II) and then to try to push the pace and outrun them," Daily said. "We wanted to try to beat up their bigs and get them in foul trouble - the coaches knew I could finish around the rim."
Daily missed all of the 2013-14 season with a torn ACL, but is rounding into shape.
"We wanted to go with Steven all the way - he's our best guy," said first-year College Park head coach Troy Faulk. "He's under the radar. We like to play off of him. We have to watch his wind because he's still getting into shape from the injury, but as long as he's in, we want to run through him."
Senior forward Lance Coleman II paced the Rams with 13 points and 13 rebounds, but was held to just 5-of-15 shooting (2-of-10 from 3-point range). Aruta finished with 11 points on 4-of-10 shooting.
"It's great for the players - they get this exposure there's not another place where they can be seen by multiple college all at once," said Faulk, when asked about participating in the Prep2Prep Tip-Off Classic. "We have a lot of guys who aren't highly recruited - they're good players, but they're probably low D-I, high D-II guys and these are the kind of coaches that are here. It's a great atmosphere."
Kevin Crosno added 13 points for the Falcons.
