SAN FRANCISCO — After spending a week licking their wounds and regrouping from a shocking loss in the BCL West tournament quarterfinals, the University Red Devils showed just how hungry they were to get back on the court.
Returning to the site of that blindside loss to Urban, they put together one of their best defensive efforts of the year, locking the Justin-Siena Braves down in a 62-33 blowout victory in the NCS Division 4 quarterfinals at Kezar Pavilion.
“We had a week to stew on it and a week to prepare,” said head coach Randy Bessolo. “We came out with something to prove, and the guys proved they could defend.”
University (21-7) allowed just five points in the first quarter, and the only period in which the Braves got into double-digits was the fourth, and that came with the Red Devils letting their reserves play the final six minutes. The reserves came in with a 46-24 lead and actually continued to build it, with Dom Brugioni scoring all seven of his points over the course of three straight possessions.
Brugioni was one of five scorers to post at least seven points for the fourth-seeded Red Devils. Charlie Kennedy had a game-high 11, Gavin McDonnell scored eight off the bench, Ren Zanze had seven and Raki Cabrera-Scarlata, playing in his third game back from a broken finger, finished with nine.
“I was a little scared of getting re-injured at first,” he said of his struggles in the prior two games. “Today I wasn’t scared at all.”
A 3-point weapon in his sophomore year, Cabrera-Scarlata had rounded out his offensive arsenal as a junior and finally looked like that sort of player again on Wednesday, with a 3-pointer and a couple of strong finishes in the lane.
“We have a lot of shooters on our team, as opposed to last year, so I’m just trying to create for my teammates,” he explained. “If I’m open, I’ll shoot ‘em, but I’m just trying to create.”
His five straight points in the second quarter after an 8-3 run by the Braves put University firmly back in control, with a three and then a layup off a steal in rapid succession for a 26-13 lead. Kennedy would get the final bucket of the half to send the Devils into the break up 15 as Justin-Siena (10-17) went scoreless for more than four minutes.
The 13th-seeded Braves didn’t make a single field goal in the first quarter, getting all five of their points at the line, and they’d score just twice from the field in the third as well. Freshman Vincent Jackson led the team in scoring, but he had just seven. If there’s a silver lining for second-year head coach David Granucci, his team graduates just two seniors, and those two players combined for a total of two points.
University will be back at Kezar Pavilion at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday to tangle with fifth-seeded Del Norte (23-1), not only playing to reach the NCS semifinals but also to qualify for the state tournament.
Jewish Community 62, Hanna 51
Gabe Geller stole the show in the opening game of Wednesday’s NCS playoff tripleheader at Kezar Pavilion, knocking down seven 3-pointers in a headline-worthy 32-point, 16-rebound performance as his Jewish Community Wolves held off the Hanna Hawks in a Division 6 first round game, 62-51.
Geller connected three times from beyond the arc in the span of four possessions early in the second quarter to stake seventh-seeded Jewish Community (13-7) out to a 14-point lead, and after the Hawks closed the gap to just eight by the break thanks to a strong effort from Adam Demba, Geller drained three more in the third.
Two of Demba’s team-high 16 points cut the lead to 35-30 early in the third, but Geller’s sixth and seventh threes put the seventh-seeded Wolves back up by double-digits, a cushion that helped them avoid a fourth-quarter breakdown as a chain of turnovers let Hanna (18-9) back in the game. James Johnson hit a pair of corner threes off inbound passes, sandwiched around a Gabe Yazzolino putback as the 10th-seeded Hawks got within five, but a Yasha Livshits free throw and three by Geller, who went 7-of-10 at the line, helped put the game away.
Five of Geller’s threes came off passes from Aiden Swan, who had six assists and seven rebounds to go with his 15 points. When the Hawks finally managed to amp the pressure up on Geller in the fourth, Swan took advantage of the extra space, scoring twice off Geller assists, including an inbound to make it 55-42 before Johnson and Yazzolino, who scored eight points apiece, helped the visitors make one last push.
Hanna also got 13 points from Edgar Porras, while Demba, a 6-foot-4 junior, completed his double-double with 14 rebounds.
Stuart Hall 76, Oakland Military Institute 41
Welcoming back four of the players who missed last Saturday’s BCL West Tournament Championship win, the Stuart Hall Knights pulled away from Oakland Military Institute in the second half, beating the 16th-seeded Grizzlies 76-41 in an NCS Division 5 First Round matchup at Kezar Pavilion.
Kyle Jasper, the lone regular starter who took the floor in that memorable 51-50 win over Urban, scored a game-high 21 points for Stuart Hall (20-7) while Luke Moore, who rose to the occasion four days earlier, turned in a second straight strong performance with 17 points, knocking down five 3-pointers. A pair of early Moore threes helped fuel a 13-2 run to start the game, and though seven of sophomore Mohamed Al-Fahd’s 15 points would have Oakland Military Institute (11-14) down just 14 at the half, the top-seeded Knights pulled away in the second half, largely thanks to Jasper.
The senior guard, whose listing at six feet may raise a few eyebrows, scored 12 in the quarter, with a pair of threes off Tomas Wolber assists. In his return to the lineup, Wolber scored just two points but dished out six of the team’s 19 assists and pulled down four rebounds.
Center Zion DeBerry scored 14 as well, with a pair of and-1s in the fourth as the Knights came close to ending the game with a running clock. Ares Williams, normally a reserve saved for blowout situations who had key minutes in the second quarter against Urban, scored nine down the stretch against the Grizzlies, knocking down a pair of threes and finishing an and-1 on which he demonstrated excellent body control to shield the ball from the defender and get the finish.
Jalen Belton led the visitors with 17 points and eight rebounds, but he and Al-Fahd had little support as OMI’s season, in which they finished second in the BCL General Division, came to an end.
Urban 61, Sonoma Academy 60
The Urban Blues narrowly avoided becoming the biggest upset victim of the night, getting three free throws from Bryce Smith with 0.1 on the clock to stave off 13th-seeded Sonoma Academy at the Salkind Center.
The 10th, 11th and 12th seeds all won in Division 5, but Smith, who scored a game-high 34 points, ensured the Coyotes wouldn’t join those other three by drawing a foul and calmly sinking all three from the line, gaining some redemption for Saturday in the process. Normally near 90% at the line, he went just 5-for-11 as the Blues lost the BCL West tournament championship to Stuart Hall, and his contested runner in the final seconds missed as Urban (19-10) came up short of the tournament title. Just four days later, he managed to extend his team’s season. The Blues will host 12th-seeded Redwood Christian (13-11) on Saturday. The Eagles pulled off a 52-51 upset of fifth-seeded Cloverdale (21-5).
