Live Oak’s senior night ended in a disappointing 52-47 loss against Del Mar in Blossom Valley Athletic League West Valley Division action Wednesday night.
“Every time we play Live Oak it’s going to be like this. Coach and I have known each other for quite some time, so we knew going in that they are well-prepared and they were going to guard our stuff,” said Del Mar Coach Ryan Cooper. “It was just going to be who could make plays after everything broke down in the half court.”
The score was close throughout the game. The Acorns wanted to prove themselves on Senior Night, while the Dons (19-4, 13-0 BVAL-WV) aimed to maintain their undefeated record.
Eddie Plascencia led Live Oak with 16 points.
Said Del Mar senior point guard Alex Balandra: “Last time we didn’t know their sets well, but we came out with a win, 59-52. But tonight we knew their sets, we came prepared, we reviewed it at practice. Today during their senior night we were in the small gym reviewing again. We knew how to switch (on) screens, we knew how to hedge out, and we gave ourselves gaps. It made us really successful tonight.
"I expected this; Live Oak’s a team that really comes out strong. When they played us at first, it wasn’t like a really big battle, but tonight they came out strong and prepared for us. They were in our faces and it was a really physical games and I really enjoyed it.”
At half, Del Mar held on to a 25-23 lead. Live Oak was never far behind and never gave up. In fact, Plascencia was able to tie the game at the start of the third quarter, 25-25, but could never quite rally the Acorns into the lead.
“Towards the end there, we were able to get to the free throw line and able to make a few stops,” said Cooper.
Del Mar was able to make nine points in free throws in the fourth quarter alone.
Live Oak (10-14, 5-9) wrapped up the regular season with a 62-36 win at San Jose on Friday night, while Del Mar hosted Overfelt.
