KENTFIELD, Calif. — The Folsom Bulldogs did something no other team has been able to do so far in 2021: They slowed down the Lincoln-San Francisco Mustangs.
Lincoln entered Monday’s affair at the first round of Marin Catholic’s Bambauer Classic averaging 70 points per game and scoring at least 62 in every contest, but Folsom held the Mustangs down in a 60-46 win, including a 15-minute scoreless span that included the entire second quarter and first six minutes of the third.
“We turned them into a perimeter shooting team and kept a lot of tight gaps,” Folsom head coach Mike Wall said of the defensive performance. “We were guarding them almost 3-on-1 a lot of times with pinched-in helpers.”
Jeremyah Aquino’s 3-pointer with 2:16 left in the first quarter put Lincoln (5-3) up 13-10, and his free throw with 1:04 left in the opening frame gave the Mustangs a 16-11 lead. They wouldn’t score again until Andre Irving’s layup with 2:05 left in the third quarter, finally ending a 31-0 Folsom run.
“We rotated on the shooters and created a lot of late shot clocks where they were pressed to get shots off, and if they drove in we collapsed and had good size that made those shots tougher,” Wall said. “All that combined and they didn’t hit shots. It was just a perfect storm.”
Brycen Shackelford scored 10 of his team-high 20 points over that run, and he also grabbed 13 rebounds. Folsom (9-3) outscored the Mustangs 21-0 in the second quarter to go into halftime up 32-16, with Joaquin Battle scoring seven in the quarter. The Bulldogs then got the first 10 in the third as well, with six of those from Shackelford, a 6-foot-5 guard. He also had four rebounds in that span and finished 6-of-6 from the free throw line.
The Mustangs did show some of their firepower in a 25-point fourth quarter where they eclipsed their output from the prior 24 minutes, but the lead never got smaller than 12. Aquino scored 15 of his game-high 24 in the period. Jordan Aquino, his older brother, scored 14 and grabbed seven rebounds, while Irving scored six to go with his game-high 14 boards.
Battle scored all of his 10 for the Bulldogs in the first half, while Tariq Ali and Jake Thoensen each finished with seven.
Arcata 52, Central Catholic 48
The Arcata Tigers showed that they’re not just a good team by Humboldt County standards, holding on late for a 52-48 win over Central Catholic.
The win sets up a quarterfinal showdown with host Marin Catholic in a game that should effectively determine the top seed for the North Coast Section Division 4 playoffs come February.
Junior point guard Brandon Bento-Jackson scored a game-high 22 points in the first three quarters, and though Arcata (10-1) went scoreless over the final 3:40, the Tigers allowed just five points in that span and ran down the clock as Central Catholic (4-4) was repeatedly forced to foul.
Sophomore Tyler Wentworth’s putback got the Raiders within four points with just 31 seconds left, but they had only committed two fouls since halftime. It took 16.4 seconds to give the remaining five fouls, and though Bento-Jackson missed the front end of a 1-and-1, CC couldn’t score at the other end, effectively ending the game.
Bento-Jackson started both halves on fire, hitting a pair of deep threes to open both the first and third quarters. He scored 10 points in each of the two periods, and the seven he scored in the first 90 seconds of the third quarter gave the Tigers their largest lead at 34-23.
Central Catholic responded behind Wentworth, a 6-foot-5 sophomore who served as quarterback on the Raiders’ Northern California 2-AA champion football team. He didn’t score in the first half but delivered nine points in rapid succession midway through the third quarter to cut the lead to 38-34. John Wright’s 3-pointer made it a three-point game, and Armaan Grewal answered a Kai Purcell basket with one of his own to send the Raiders into the final period down just 42-39.
The Tigers went back up by nine on a pair of Alex Jioras baskets, his only points of the game, but Grewal’s and-1 with 2:07 left made it a 52-46 game. Grewal scored 14 to lead the Raiders, while Wentworth finished a rebound shy of a double-double. Wesley Payne scored nine, with seven coming in the first quarter, and gathered seven rebounds.
Purcell scored 10 and finished a rebound shy of his own double-double, while Josiah Gomez scored six and collected nine boards.
Miramonte 79, San Marin 37
The Miramonte Matadors may have only suited up seven players to open the Bambauer Classic on Monday afternoon, but it was clearly the right seven.
A combination of football injuries and illness left Chris Lavdiotis’ team with just five starters and two reserves, but the group jumped out to a 19-3 lead in the opening minutes and stormed to a 79-37 win over San Marin. All seven players accounted for at least seven points, and they combined to record assists on 19 of their 30 made field goals.
Eight of those assists came from Tyler Dutto, who scored 12 points and collected nine rebounds. James Frye scored a game-high 17, with nine boards. Marcus Robinson, a sophomore transfer from Acalanes playing in his first game, scored 14. Ben Murphy and Koleton Fenton scored 10 apiece, Caden Breznikar dropped in nine and Rome Jiannalone finished with seven. The final result could have been even more lopsided had Miramonte (8-1) not shot a ghastly 6-for-20 from the free throw line.
Justin Guin, who ran for 2,359 yards on the Mustangs’ state championship football team, led San Marin (1-8) with 14 points. Sophomore Nick Cubley added 10, including a dunk on a fastbreak in the third quarter. Miramonte closed the first half on a 25-5 run to take a 53-20 lead into the break, and a running clock was reached on a Murphy free throw with 5:44 left in the third.
Serra 73, San Domenico 46
Garret Keyhani didn’t look like a Division III commit on Monday - he looked even better.
The 6-foot-8 forward, who two weeks earlier announced his commitment to NESCAC member Hamilton College, located near Utica, New York, finished with 23 points and 16 rebounds in Serra’s convincing 73-46 win over San Domenico.
He was well on his way to a double-double by the end of the first quarter with the Padres up 19-9, recording eight points and six boards in the opening stanza, and he scored another seven in the second quarter while picking up rebounds seven and eight. He opened the second quarter with a two-hand dunk off a Brady Smith assist, and his putback capped off a 15-0 run to give Serra (5-1) a 34-9 lead.
The 10th rebound came three minutes into the third quarter, and though San Domenico (2-6) trailed by just 19 after sophomore Drew Morehouse’s free throw with 53.5 left in the third, the Padres got the final five points of the quarter on a Jett Lalic basket and Charles Tolod 3-pointer before opening the fourth on a 10-0 surge, concluding with Miles Nabeta’s putback.
Miles Klapper added 10 for the Padres despite picking up his third foul less than two minutes into the second quarter. Sophomore Ryan Pettis scored all eight of his points in the second as well. 16 different players saw time for Chuck Rapp’s team, with 12 recording points.
Gytis Gervickas scored 19 to lead the Panthers, with 14 coming in the third quarter. Fellow Lithuanian boarding student Matas Burniskas added 10 and dished out four assists, while freshman Gavin Early finished with nine points and 10 rebounds.
University 79, Napa 57
It’s hard to consider a team rotating 11 players shorthanded, but the University Red Devils were without their two best players in Joey Kennedy and Grant Lyon.
Nevertheless, their pressure cued a 14-0 run to end the first half and they dominated the rest of the way, beating Napa 79-57.
Leading just 24-23 after Tyler Oda’s jumper from the free throw line, Jackson Boake banked in a 3-pointer and Cole Boake, his sophomore brother, dished out three assists over the final three minutes of the second quarter as sophomore Gus Parsons and junior forward Thomas Woeber combined for the final nine points of the half.
The lead grew to 21 on a Cole Boake putback midway through the third, and University (7-4) went up by 28 in the fourth on a Luke Burton three. Ten different players scored for the Red Devils, with Cole Boake leading the way with 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Vinny Brugioni scored 10, Jackson Boake added nine and both Parsons and Trevor Tarm, another sophomore, added seven.
Seniors accounted for just 19 of the Devils’ 79 points. Woeber, a junior who’s showed flashes of potential in the post, played his best game to date with 13 points and eight rebounds.
Oda led Napa (2-7) with 18 points, scoring 10 in the first half and capping off his performance with a pair of late threes. Sophomore Miles MacPherson scored 13 for the Grizzlies, all in the second half, and Andrew Remboldt scored 10 of his 11 in the fourth quarter. Dylan Newman finished with six points and eight rebounds.
Heritage 50, Urban 38
George Strait would have an appropriate saying for the Heritage Patriots’ time at the Bambauer Classic.
“I ain’t here for a long time; I’m here for a good time.”
The Patriots allowed just seven second-half points in a stellar defensive performance for a 50-38 win over Urban in the opening game of the four-day tournament.
Following the game, both teams withdrew from the remainder of the tournament after Heritage found multiple positive COVID-19 tests.
As brief as the Pats’ stay in the tournament was, their performance was certainly one that head coach Carly Perales could draw positives from. Heritage (6-5) went into halftime trailing 31-27 after allowing 17 points in the second quarter, but allowed just two in the third. Lorenzo Pardo’s layup off a Jalen Owens assist tied the game at 33, and Jordan Ratchford gave his team the lead a minute later with his first points of the game. Ratchford finished with 10, all in the second half.
Vinny Andrea shared high honors with Ratchford, while Yannick Nguiffo scored all seven of his points in the second quarter. Jaylen Ennis, a burly 6-foot-2 power forward, also scored seven.
Siraj Saker led Urban (7-6) with 14 points and 11 rebounds. His putback accounted for the Blues’ lone points of the third quarter. Quentin Bone made one of two free throws to cut the lead to 39-34 with 6:23 left, but the Patriots got the next five points on an Ennis three and another basket by Ratchford.
Kyle Neece finished with seven for the Blues, all in the first quarter.
King 73, Mills 40
Mills’ zone defense can take the air out of the ball, especially when the Vikings face an opponent that’s unfamiliar with their style.
Considering that the King Wolves came up from Riverside and had never faced the Vikings before, it made their 25-point first quarter and 73-40 win all the more impressive.
Kawhi Leonard’s alma mater demonstrated tremendous balance in the victory, with six players scoring at least seven points. Six-foot-10 forward Caleb Tinker led King (11-2) with 12 points, Jayceon Smith added 11 and Kenneth Clayton scored six of his 10 in the first quarter. Sophomore guard James Harrell finished with nine, all on second quarter 3-pointers, and point guard George Alapag added eight. Ryan Palaskis rounded out the performance with seven points, five rebounds and five assists.
Corey Wong led Mills (2-7) with 15 points and Shane Williams added nine.
Marin Catholic 77, Westmoor 38
The Marin Catholic Wildcats looked exactly like a tournament host is supposed to look on the opening night of their event, winning every quarter in a 77-38 win over Westmoor to wrap up the first night of the 25th Bambauer Classic.
Caden Maas scored a game-high 22 for the Wildcats, including seven straight during a 12-0 run in the second quarter to open up a 20-point lead. Marin Catholic (7-3) led 21-11 after a quarter, 44-20 at halftime and 60-28 through three periods. Kyle Winters scored 17 for the hosts and Charlie Allen came off the bench to record nine points, eight rebounds and three assists. Another reserve, Colby Kaplan, scored eight.
Trey Knight (no relation to the Moreau Catholic player of the same name) scored 16 to lead Westmoor (3-5), knocking down four 3-pointers. The Rams also got seven points from Noah Cote.
Tuesday’s schedule
Lincoln (5-3) vs. Mills (2-7), 11 a.m.
Central Catholic (4-4) vs. Westmoor (3-5), 12:30 p.m.
San Marin (1-8) vs. San Domenico (2-6), 2 p.m.
Napa (2-7) vs. Folsom (9-3), 3:30 p.m.
Miramonte (8-1) vs. Serra (5-1), 5 p.m.
University (7-4) vs. King (11-2), 6:30 p.m.
Arcata (10-1) @ Marin Catholic (7-3), 8 p.m.
