SAN FRANCISCO — Needing two more wins to qualify for the postseason and faced with a rare size disadvantage against a gargantuan Valley Christian team, St. Ignatius used its superior depth at the forward positions to pull away for a 67-59 win.
Garrett Cason had seven points and 10 rebounds while Sam Nangle scored all six of his points off the bench in the third quarter, in which the Wildcats opened up a 10-point lead.
“We have a lot of big, physical dudes on our team that can really battle,” Nangle said. “When you have a team like that, it’s easy to just do your part and box out.”
The Warriors have as much size and physicality as anyone in the league between 6-foot-9 Jay Allen-Tovar and Iowa State tight end commit Skylar Loving-Black. Most teams hoping to beat Valley Christian (10-12, 1-11) have to resort to guard play, but SI has the strength in the middle, plus the Warriors had a shot in the arm with the return of point guard D’Von Lang. Lang, a stellar defensive back who is expected to join Arizona State’s football team as a preferred walk-on, missed the last three games with injuries, and the Warriors lost all three in lopsided fashion. He scored eight points, racked up six assists and six rebounds and provided much-needed stability against the defensive pressure that so many teams can bring in the WCAL.
“There’s no way they’d have all those losses if they had been healthy. They’re a tough team,” St. Ignatius head coach Rob Marcaletti said. “They’re well-coached, they’ve got athletes on the floor and they present some challenges in some weird ways that other teams can’t do. They’re going to be a pain in the butt to get out in the playoffs.”
Last year’s CCS Division II champions and a Northern California semifinalist, the Warriors were indeed a tough out in the playoffs, and with Allen-Tovar turning in one of his most thorough performances with 27 points and 10 rebounds, it’s easy to see what Valley Christian is capable of.
Loving-Black added 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, but lack of depth still hurt Mark DeLuca’s team. Colin McCulloch hardly played, getting just a few minutes in the second half when Lang had to be attended to by trainers, and 6-foot-8 forward James Bellew did not see any time on Wednesday night.
That gave St. Ignatius (10-12, 6-6) a chance to wear the Warriors down, and then they did, it presented opportunities for Cason and Nangle.
Nangle had two putbacks and a layup off a turnover as the Wildcats closed the third on a 15-7 run to take a 52-42 advantage. A Wrenn-Robinson and-1, three of his team-high 22 points, made it 44-37, and Kourosh Kahn-Adle scored to increase the gap to nine.
Kahn-Adle scored just six points but was involved in one of the most pivotal sequences of the game. A massive Allen-Tovar dunk off an inbound pass had the Warriors set to go into the fourth down by just eight, but Kahn-Adle got tangled up with Joey Santos as the quarter ended, resulting in a technical foul on Santos. Robinson converted both free throws, part of his 9-for-9 showing at the line. It was one of two technical fouls against the Warriors on the night, as DeLuca was assessed one midway through the fourth quarter.
Robinson scored 11 in the third, including a three to give his team a 31-29 advantage.
“We set ball screens closer to half-court and pushed the tempo,” he said. “It was just my teammates and coaches helping me to get open.”
The Warriors did score the first five points of the fourth, but a Cason offensive rebound, putback and free throw to complete a three-point play made it 55-47, and the lead would never be less than seven the rest of the way.
“Mentally, my confidence has been on the rise,” Cason said. “My knee has felt great the last couple of practices, and I came in tonight feeling like I could do my thing.”
With a win at St. Francis on Saturday or a Senior Night win against Sacred Heart Cathedral next Tuesday, the ‘Cats will secure playoff qualification, but they aren’t taking anything for granted.
“We still feel like our backs are completely against the wall,” Robinson said. “We still aren’t in CCS, so we’re still locked in at practice every day, working hard to qualify.”
No. 9 St. Francis 68, No. 12 Sacred Heart Cathedral 67 (OT)
A few crucial offensive rebounds keyed the Lancers to a nail-biter win that was decided by Oscar Pedraza’s 3-pointer at the buzzer in overtime. Pedraza rebounded a missed 3-pointer with five seconds left, kicked it out to Lucas Lee, got the return pass in the corner and sank the winning shot as time expired to snap a three-game skid for St. Francis (12-10, 4-8). The Lancers picked up 14 offensive rebounds in all, including two in a row off missed free throws in the fourth quarter, which culminated in a Matteo Fontana basket to give them a 53-51 lead.
Sacred Heart Cathedral (9-12, 2-10) went back in front on a basket by Oisin McCormack, but two Pedraza free throws gave the Lancers a 56-55 advantage. Cedric Reed Jr., who scored a game-high 25 points on Senior Night, was fouled with a tenth of a second left in regulation and hit all three free throws to force OT. The Irish took a one-point lead on an Elijah Flowers basket, the last of his 12 points, and Reed split a pair from the line with 20.8 left in the extra period to put his team up by two. Pedraza’s shot at the buzzer capped off his 23-point night, while Maurice Wilmer, who announced his commitment to play both football and baseball at Nevada earlier in the day, scored 11. Fontana added seven points and a game-high 10 rebounds, including five on the offensive end.
