GIULIANO ORSI, MITTY
Prep2Prep Student Contributor

January 6, 2016

SAN JOSE, CA -– Archbishop Mitty was hoping to get off to a quick start to the WCAL season and it did so, defeating visiting Sacred Heart Cathedral 55-50 Tuesday night in the league opener for both teams.

The victory was cause for a sigh of relief from the Monarchs. The defending CIF-State Division II NorCal champions battled it out with the Fightin' Irish through four quarters of gritty basketball, which included tight man defense from both sides.

Senior standout and Oregon State commit Ben Kone led his teammates in scoring with 14 points on 6 of 10 shooting and also had 10 rebounds.

“My team played great. Sacred Heart played great defense, which made it hard for us to step up. In the end I don’t really care how many points I get, all I wanted was for us to win, which is what we did,” Kone said.

The Monarchs shot 46 percent from the field and took 26 total rebounds. They also added 12 steals and eight assists.

Mitty, though, struggled from the line, making just 9 of 25 free throw attempts.

As for Sacred Heart, 6-foot-6 junior Alfred Hollins proved to be their best offensive weapon, dropping a few big three balls and finishing with a game-high 18 points. Their ball movement was a big factor. Romello Dunbar led at point for most of the game, scoring nine points and dishing out assists to his wings all game long.

The next key to the Monarchs' success was on the defensive side, where they had to figure out ways to contain the 6-foot-8 force of nature, Ben Kone. Jamar Williams-Sheppard did a superb job of stifling Mitty’s big man at times, gaining help from double teams that forced many of the nine turnovers the Monarchs had Tuesday night.

Only seven Irish players saw minutes, but they were still able to out-hustle Mitty at times, using tight defense and pressure on Kone, the 2015-2016 Prep2Prep player of th year.

SHC coach Darrell Barbour saw positives in the opener.

“I like the fact that we competed,” he said. “We made mistakes, but that’s part of the game. I think the fact that our boys were able to compete is a good sign that things will get better.”

The Monarchs started more quickly than the Irish, jumping to a 15-7 lead after one quarter and 28-24 at halftime. The lead traded hands a few times in the third quarter before Mitty maintained a four-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

A few more missed free throws in the last few minutes of the fourth by the Monarchs kept the game tight, but Mitty was able to fend off any late surge that was attempted by Sacred Heart and closed out the game to earn the win.

“It was a gutty performance where it wasn’t pretty on either side, but we were able to hold down our home court and get the win," Mitty coach Tim Kennedy said. "That’s the way you want to start league (play).”