NOVATO, CA – The second half of our MCAL doubleheader saw visiting Prep2Prep North Coast Section No. 19 Branson (21-3, 10-1 MCAL) shake off a sluggish first half to take control in the third quarter of a 50-33 victory over host Novato.
The visiting Bulls led 25-18 at the half and after the Hornets closed to 27-22 early in the third quarter they went on a 12-2 run to pretty much seal the deal.
The Branson lead got to 48-29 early in the fourth quarter before Coach Jonas Honick started using the bench and the final margin narrowed a bit.
Marco Castillo, a 6-4 senior power forward, and 5-8 sophomore guard Peyton Mullarkey, each had 14 points to lead Branson.
Marcus Orleans led Novato (9-14, 3-8) with nine points.
With the victory Branson stays tied in the MCAL for first place with a Drake team that beat them 42-37 last week, but has a 47-34 loss to the Redwood team Branson beat 51-39 prior to the Drake loss.
“I agreed, we gave one away against Drake last week,” Honick said. “But to their credit the boys put it behind them and came back in less than 24 hours to play solid against Marin Catholic.”
With the win Branson has now won three straight since the loss to Drake but according to Honick he’s had his challenges with a somewhat young team.
“I’m not making excuses but for the last few weeks I’ve had nine players practicing for a dance show with rehearsals along with practice, and that’s tough,” Honick remarked.
For Honick, who took an eight-year hiatus from coaching but came out of retirement last year to lead Branson to a 26-9 record, an NCS Division V title, and the CIF Northern Regional Division V semifinals before bowing out to Elliot Christian-Lodi, it was career win No. 675 according to the Cal-Hi Sports Record Book.
That gets him up to No. 20 all time in California, No. 6 from the North Coast Section, and No. 3 in the NCS among active coaches behind Don Lippi of St. Joseph Notre Dame and Tom Bonfigli of Cardinal Newman, although around half of Lippi’s wins were in other sections. If Honick had the eight years worth of wins he missed in retirement he likely would be ahead of Lippi (844 current wins) and the current 769 wins of Bonfigli.