SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Vise-like defense has been a Branson-Ross trademark for decades under former Coach Jonas Honick, and now under his longtime assistant and first year head coach Steve Johnson nothing has changed.
The state CIF Northern Regional Division II semifinal at Dominican University on Saturday was a prime example after No. 2 seed Branson (28-5) cranked it up big-time to start the second quarter and never let up to win going away in a 75-49 victory over No. 3 seed St. Patrick-St. Vincent-Vallejo.
The win over their CIF North Coast Section Division 3 rivals was the second in a week after Branson won the NCS D3 championship as the No. 2 seed, 82-75 on the road at top-seeded St. Patrick-St. Vincent.
“It was a combination of guys are hungry, guys don’t want this season to end. They just don’t want to lose,” said Johnson about what he felt were the keys to the win.
Branson pretty much dominated every aspect of the game and the ringleader on offense and defense was Joaquim Arauz-Moore. The senior guard finished with a double-double 20 points and 10 rebounds with four assists and two steals.
“Joaquim is the heart and soul of our team,” Johnson remarked. “He’s just an amazing player, always guard’s the other team’s best player, can score, can shoot.”
I don’t understand why we don’t have more (college) coaches after him,” Johnson continued. “He’s going to go somewhere and develop into a beautiful player.”
For now Arauz-Moore looked pretty beautiful in a Branson jersey.
The first quarter was back and forth with six lead changes and three ties. Branson ended the quarter with the final lead change when Arauz-Moore gave the Bulls a 15-13 lead heading into the second period.
St. Patrick-St. Vincent (24-3) would tie it one last time at 15-15 but from there Branson took complete control and finished the quarter on a 22-5 run to take a 37-20 lead into intermission.
Arauz-Moore led the second quarter run on bother ends of the court. He drained a three-pointer to give Branson a 22-15 lead. Then he kicked it out to budding sophomore Jase Butler who nailed a three-pointer. Next Arauz-Moore took a pass for a lay-up off a steal by freshman phenom Semetri “TT” Carr. A basket by Butler completed a 14-0 run to make it 29-15 and Branson was off to the races.
Another player that had a huge impact was George Gale. The 6-6 junior center had his way inside for a Bull team that dominated the paint. He finished with a double-double 14 points and 10 rebounds with five blocked shots.
Sophomore Joaquin Aguillon added eight points and five rebounds, and played outstanding defense, and Carr, who had 27 points in Branson’s quarterfinal 54-43 victory over Saint Francis-Mountain View, chipped in with seven points and played solid defense as well.
With Arauz-Moore and Gale each registering double-digits on the glass Branson had a 34-21 rebounding advantage overall. They also had 10 assisted baskets to three for St. Patrick-St. Vincent.
“We knew from the first time we played them that our size would be something we could utilize,” Arauz-Moore remarked.
The senior backcourt duo of Jevon Blackmore (16 points) and Nick Medeiros (15) led St. Patrick-St. Vincent was led by combining for 31 points but in the pivotal second quarter where the Bruins only score seven points they pair could only muster five of them against the lock-down Branson defense.
“We never expected to blow them out like we did but our mindset was to be ready for anything thrown at us,” said Arauz-Moore, who has interest from several small schools plus Long Beach State and Florida Gold Coast.
“I’m definitely proud of us for pushing the pace,” Arauz-Moore continued. “We know they’re a transition team so our goal was to slow them down a little bit
Next up is host and top-seeded Elk Grove on Tuesday for the Northern Regional D1 title and the right to play for a CIF state championship. The Thundering Herd (26-6) won a 42-40 squeaker over Vanden-Fairfield in the other Saturday semifinal.
“We know they have a great guard and all eyes are going to be on him,” said Arauz-Moore about Elk Grove senior Ameere Britton. “Our defensive principles will be stopping him and being ready defensively for what they’ve got.”
