SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — After watching a 16-point lead dwindle to three in the third quarter on Thursday afternoon, the South San Francisco Warriors turned to their most clutch shooter when they needed momentum.
The last of Anthony Vanderbur’s three 3-pointers put an end to a 15-2 run and gave the Warriors a much-needed boost as they took a 42-36 lead and went on to down the Burton Pumas, 63-51.
“It’s kind of happened organically,” head coach Jesse McCowan said of Vanderbur’s shooting. “Guys have been looking forward to these moments, and somebody seems to step up and knock down the big one.”
Vanderbur had opened the quarter with back-to-back threes as well, giving the Warriors their largest lead of the day before Burton (8-3) roared back. Trailing 37-21, the Pumas saw five different scorers combine for the 15-2 run that turned the game around before South San Francisco (3-5) got the much-needed shot from Vanderbur again.
“My captains have been leaders, and at the end of the third quarter, I didn’t have to talk at all in the huddle,” McCowan said. “They covered everything. When you’ve got guys who step up and do things like that, it makes my job much easier.”
The leadership carried over into the fourth quarter, where senior guard Nico Alimorong scored 15 of his game-high 18 points to put the game away. He opened the period with a 3-pointer to put South City back up by 10 and made five of six free throws down the stretch to put the game out of reach. Free throws were a major deciding factor as the visitors struggled to hit from the line all game, going 9-for-22 and allowing the Warriors to hack away on any attempted drives to the hoop with the reassurance that Burton wouldn’t be able to get points at the line. Even in the third quarter, the Pumas made just three of their nine free throw attempts.
Alfonzo Smith led Burton with 10 points, Jesse Mateo finished with nine, all coming in the second half, and Nino Sun scored eight. For SSF, Vanderbur scored 10 of his 15 in the third quarter, Miles Clarke finished with 11 and Angelo Abulencia scored eight.
