Live Oak dominated Thursday night with a 77-61 league victory against Yerba Buena behind 29 points from Eddie Plascencia. With the win, the Acorns improve to 8-6 overall, 3-1 in the Blossom Valley Athletic League-West Valley Division. The Aztec Warriors fall to 2-12, 1-3.
The first half was close, but Live Oak dominated in the final two quarters.
“In the first quarter, it was back and forth,” said Acorn coach Brett Paolucci. “And then to start the second, it was back and forth. We pulled away a little bit at the end of the second quarter.”
Live Oak led 37-31 at the half and then surged in the second half.
“We went into halftime with a six-point lead,” said Paolucci. “We pulled away a little bit. We went into halftime with a bit of momentum going into the third.”
Andrew Poonia scored 13 points in the second half alone to lead Live Oak.
“What happened in the third quarter that helped us win was that we stepped up when we knew we had to,” said Plascencia. “Everyone on the court stepped up. Everyone that got subbed in was ready. We gave (Yerba Buena) no life. We attacked the basket and we attacked it hard. We went to the foul line and we made our free throws. In the end, we finished.”
Yerba Buena kept the game relatively close with their main shooters being Harry Vaega (17 points) and Richard Dao (13 points).
The game was noteworthy for the hard defense played on both sides and the many turnovers. No matter what the circumstance, Live Oak kept its spirits up.
“We pick each other up," Paolucci said. "We don’t let a small thing (turnovers) like that get in the way of competing. I don’t like turnovers, but it comes down to better decision making and having confidence.”
Added Plascencia: “We helped each other. Our motivation comes from each other. We pass the ball, we pump each other up, and we get each other going. We push ourselves too.”
Yerba Buena hosts San Jose on Saturday, Jan. 12. Live Oak visits Andrew Hill, also on Saturday.
