SAN FRANCISCO — Not many high school sophomores stand 6 feet, 9 inches tall. Among that rare group, even fewer can shoot like St. Ignatius’ Alex Moore can.
Amidst the bright lights and the unusual shooting background at Chase Center on Friday night, Moore rose to the occasion, knocking down a trio of 3-pointers in the first quarter en route to a game-high 24 points as the Wildcats pulled away in the second half for a 72-42 blowout of rival Sacred Heart Cathedral.
“Once you see one go it, I got into a little bit of a flow state there in the first half,” Moore said. “They were all good looks. On those possessions, we did a good job finding the open guy, and it just happened to be me. But I know anyone else in here can knock down those shots too.”
SI (13-1, 4-0 West Catholic Athletic League) remained tied atop the WCAL standings with Riordan. But not without surviving a first-half scare from the Fightin’ Irish (8-6, 1-3), who outscored the Wildcats 16-12 in the second quarter to make it a five-point game at the break.
Freshman Jaden Hector led SHC with 10 points, all in the first half, and the Irish were able to get downhill for clean inside looks. Once SI started playing better help defense on SHC’s drives, though, the Irish could not find anything else that was working offensively. The Wildcats also bullied SHC on the boards, a byproduct of having Moore and Ty Landers as their starting post players.
“They did a really nice job keeping us in front of them,” Irish head coach Andrew Kochevar said of SI. “In the first half, we were able to get downhill and expose a couple mismatches that we thought we had with some dribble-drive capabilities. But they just kept the ball in front of us. That’s what a good defense does; it keeps us out of the paint. We had a hard time scoring the ball in the second half.”
Moore, who hit his fourth 3-pointer of the first half to help hold back an SHC rally, was the only Wildcat in double figures. But 14 players made a field goal for SI at the home of the Golden State Warriors and Valkyries, all of them surely relishing the chance to make an impact on such a big stage.
The Wildcats’ fans were particularly excited for senior Ryiu Valdes, who typically only plays in the final minutes of blowouts, knocking down a late 3-pointer.
“When we’re at our best, we’re sharing the ball, and it doesn’t matter who’s scoring or putting up the shots,” Moore said. “We shared the ball well tonight. Whoever needed to be taking the shots was taking the shots. The first half, we were a little selfish at times, but once we got going in the second half, we (were playing) inside-out, we got a lot of good looks. Everybody gets their share.”
SI girls ride big second quarter to clinch trophy
The Wildcats had already secured the Bruce-Mahoney Trophy by the time the boys teams took the court. That’s because the SI girls opened the evening with a 61-43 victory over the Irish, coupled with wins in the fall by the Wildcats’ volleyball and football teams.
SI used a 19-7 advantage in the second quarter to take a 15-point halftime lead and make the second half mostly 16 minutes of window dressing. Seniors Sophia Sanchez and Hayley McGee led the Wildcats (13-3, 2-1 WCAL) with 15 and 12 points, respectively.
Coming off a 40-point loss to a superstar-laden Mitty team on Wednesday, SI quickly turned its focus to its biggest rival on an NBA and WNBA floor.
“We took on the mentality to not let (the Mitty loss) affect the rest of our season,” McGee said. “It was really important (that) we just went to practice the next day, put our heads down and got to work and prepared for this game, and the result turned out well.”
Another Wildcat senior, Mary Ennis, returned to the floor after missing eight games with an injury. She scored just two points, but as she works back to full strength, her on-court leadership can give SI a big boost as the Wildcats get closer to the postseason.
“I was pretty nervous at first, but I knew all my teammates had my back, I knew my coaches had my back, I knew the trainers were there for me if I needed anything,” Ennis said. “I didn’t want to miss another game. I hate just watching when I know I can’t get in there and do something. I’m just happy I’m back.”
Lea Escobar paced SHC (4-11, 0-3) with 12 points, and Sofia Barrientos added 11. The Fightin’ Irish played SI roughly evenly in the second half, but they had dug themselves too big a hole.
