NOVATO, Calif. — Despite the Marin Catholic Wildcats entering Thursday night’s trip to Novato in second place in the MCAL while the Hornets came in tied for last, there was plenty of intrigue at Tom Gordon Gym after the teams had gone to overtime three weeks earlier.
It turned out all that hype was for nothing as Marin Catholic (15-6, 10-1 MCAL) opened up a 16-point halftime lead and went up by as much as 27 en route to a leisurely 60-42 win.
“They can shoot the lights out,” Wildcats head coach Mike Saia said. “We learned from that and did a better job defending.”
In that Jan. 2 meeting, Jason Carpenter and Neil Knight combined for 42 points, but Marin Catholic held the duo to just 15 in the rematch, with Carpenter scoring just two in the first half. A Carpenter transition layup gave Novato (9-13, 2-10) an early 6-3 lead, but he wouldn’t score again until the final moments of the third quarter.
“We didn’t shoot the ball as well and we didn’t defend as well as we did last game,” Hornets head coach Rob Barde said. “It’s that simple. We just didn’t play well enough to win tonight. We had been winning games recently with defense and tonight the defense just wasn’t there.”
The Wildcats had little trouble spreading the ball around offensively, bridging the first and second quarters with a 12-0 run with baskets from all four of their main scorers. AJ Rohosy scored a game-high 14, Kyle Winters finished with 13, Nick Greenwood had 12 and Jack Greenwood added 11.
“Our guys are really clicking and playing unselfishly, and that’s been the key to our offense,” Saia said. “Over the last five or six games, we’ve been hitting on all cylinders and we’re shooting the three at an incredible percentage. It’s been fun to watch and I’m trying to stay out of their way.”
Knight hit a pair of threes in the second quarter to keep pace, including one from NBA range to cut it to 20-11, but Nick, the younger of the Greenwood brothers, would hit one off a Winters offensive rebound to restore a double-digit lead and start a 14-5 run to close the half, giving the visitors a 34-18 lead into the break. The onslaught continued in the third, with a Kyrin Marshall putback finishing off a 16-5 run to give the Wildcats their largest lead at 50-23 before going deep into the bench.
As smooth as the guard play has been as of late for Marin Catholic, Saia’s team has continued to run through the 6-foot-7 Rohosy, who had four inches over anyone the Hornets tried to counter him with.
“We’ve still gotta feed the beast and keep him engaged, especially when he’s got a size advantage,” Saia said.
Knight and Nico Herrera each scored eight to lead the Hornets, who lost for the ninth time in ten games.
The Wildcats return home for a 3:30 p.m. tilt on Saturday against Branson (19-1, 10-0), while Novato will be back at home Saturday night at 6 p.m., hosting San Rafael (9-12, 4-7).
