GIULIANO ORSI, MITTY
Prep2Prep Student Contributor

March 1, 2017

SAN JOSE - Archbishop Mitty is no stranger to CCS success, yet this season has proved to be more of a challenge than expected. Facing a sharp-shooting St. Ignatius team, the Monarchs gutted out a 59-51 win, granting them a trip to the Open Division CCS title game Friday night, where they will face Bellarmine in the final.

The Monarchs ran a mostly man-to-man defense, while having slight aspects of zone in certain areas of the court to halt the Wildcats from getting flow in their action. It proved to be very effective, with St. Ignatius totaling their third lowest total amount of points in a game all season.

“It got us engaged, we were focused, ready to get a quick trap. If not, ready to flow into our man action,” said Monarch coach Tim Kennedy on his team’s game plan on the defensive side of the ball. Although Mitty still had trouble keeping junior star Wildcat Darrion Trammel from getting his points – he finished with 20, including four triples – it was still enough to keep the entire St. Ignatius squad from getting on large runs.

Mitty also did a great job of sharing the ball on the offensive end, always looking for the best option to score. Freshman guard Devan Sapp proved to shine in his off the bench role, putting up 12 points on four triples, with three of them being huge momentum-stoppers in the second half.

“He’s not afraid of the moment, and he’s a deadly shooter who’s continuously learning his angles to attack on offense," Kennedy said.

Two-way machine Karl Peterson led all Monarchs in scoring with 13 points, including three first-half triples, while junior star forward Riley Grigsby totaled 12 points. Mitty didn’t have to put up big numbers due to their high-energy defense, but certainly lit up the scoreboard when it was needed.

During much of the game, St. Ignatius would get spurts of offense to climb back, but each time it got close again either Sapp or Grigsby would get a couple shots to fall to keep the Wildcats from pouncing.

“Our energy helped us the most,” said Grigsby. “We got that from getting the ball in the basket, and on defensive stops, and it what gave us the opportunity to win.”

The game itself had a pretty consistent pattern, with Mitty never jumping out into huge leads. Their largest margin of scoring total in a quarter was in the first, where they put up 18 points to the Wildcats’ 14. The second quarter was full of missed shots, making the halftime score 28-22.

An even offensive third quarter opened up the gates for St. Ignatius to potentially catch up in the fourth, but was never able to hit more than a shot or two in a row, due to Mitty’s hounding defensive performance.

“They won from attacking the rim, eating us up on the boards, and us getting a little stagnant on offense at times,” said Wildcat coach Rob Marcaletti after the loss. “Our biggest focal points were on second-chance opportunities, where we needed to keep Mitty on one-and-dones if we wanted to win.”

The Monarchs are set to face long-time rival Bellarmine in the Open Division CCS title game Friday night at 8pm at the Leavey Center of Santa Clara University. The Bells had a surprise season, sweeping WCAL play and now head into the final CCS match with more momentum than any team.

“We have to stay true to who we have been,” Kennedy said, referring to Mitty’s mental game plan for the title game. “It’s more about taking care of us.”