HAYWARD, Calif. — Maybe all the Logan Colts needed to do was play a little small ball.
After a frustrating up-and-down season filled with attempts at hero ball yielding mixed results, the Colts sent a smaller lineup onto the floor during Saturday’s game at Moreau Catholic, and it turned into poetry in motion.
The young, undersized and quick team that showed up during Saturday’s game showed what can happen when the Colts play up to their potential, with four scorers in double-digits in a 79-73 road win to knock the host Mariners out of a tie atop the Mission Valley Athletic League Standings.
“We’re not trying to do the 1-on-1s, we’re running our sets and creating off them,” head coach Mel Easley said after the victory, which left Washington alone in first place with two games left.
Logan (13-11, 8-4 MVAL) displayed excellent balance all night, but it was most prominently on display during the third quarter, when the Colts outscored the hosts 22-10. Makaio Mims gave the visitors the lead with a three-point play, and after sophomore point guard Trey Knight hit a three to bring Moreau Catholic (15-9, 10-2) even, Coby Hawkins scored on back-to-back possessions, including a fadeaway off the glass from the free throw line.
“At practice, we had a long talk after a few rough losses,” Hawkins said after scoring 17. “We talked about how if we want to win basketball games, we’ve got to play as a team, we’ve got to trust each other’s shot, and you’ve got to be able to trust the player next to you and trust that when you give him the ball, he’s gonna knock down that shot.”
Hawkins knocked down a pair of those shots in the third, and sophomore Brandon McGautha scored after a Teo Inciong offensive rebound before feeding Mims in transition to finish off a 17-5 run and put the Colts up 54-46. The Mariners would counter with a DJ Johnson putback and Johnathan Langford three, but Brah’jon Thompson would hit two free throws and Inciong would knock down a three from the corner just before the buzzer to reopen an eight-point advantage entering the fourth.
“I’m always ready to shoot,” said Inciong, who knocked down a pair of threes off the bench. “When everyone’s shooting, everyone’s scoring, everyone’s having fun, we’re the best team out there. Tonight everyone was involved and the results showed.”
The Mariners would get as close as four points on three separate occasions in the fourth quarter, first on a DJ Johnson basket to cut it to 59-55, but the 6-foot-7 junior would miss the ensuing free throw, a constant problem throughout the afternoon. He was the lone member of his team to even shoot a free throw in the second half, and though he made three of his six attempts in the first half, he’d go just 4-for-13 in the fourth to finish the day an ugly 7-of-19, a sour note on an otherwise stellar performance. He led all players with 27 points and 16 rebounds, but his struggles at the charity stripe proved costly.
“We made it specific that we wanted to get to him in the post. We thought we had an advantage there,” head coach Frank Knight said. “But we’ve got to help him make some free throws now.”
Hawkins would answer with a basket off a Marcelo Fung assist, and when freshman LaBrie Goudy-Lee made it 61-57, Thompson responded with a steal and layup. A Hawkins 3-pointer with 4:21 left would silence the home crowd after a Mahda Fallay putback and spur the Colts to a strong finish.
On a day where Thompson struggled to shoot from the outside, he picked the perfect time to hit his one and only three, answering a Johnson basket in the lane by connecting from the volleyball lines to make it 69-61. He was held to just 13 points, but the inability to put the ball in the hoop didn’t stop him from playing a productive game.
“He’s getting people good looks,” Easley said. “He’s playing unselfish basketball.”
Another basket for Mims would give the Colts a double-digit lead, and after a Johnson free throw and Donovan Tynes drive cut it to 71-66, McGautha hit the last of his four 3-pointers, delivering off of Mims’ seventh and final assist.
“I just felt it as soon as I came into the gym,” said McGautha, who hardly played when the teams first met but scored 14 on Saturday. “I got the feeling today was gonna be a good day, and I didn’t let the coaches down.”
Mims would score in transition off a McGautha assist and help seal the game with three free throws, giving him 23 points to go with his seven boards. He scored at least four in every quarter, and his back-to-back baskets midway through the second gave the guests a 30-28 lead before the Mariners rattled off an 11-4 run, capped off by a Solomon Thomas basket.
“He’s the only senior we have, so everything he does is big for us,” Knight said. “He’s definitely one of our active leaders.”
The loss means that, barring a miracle, Thomas will be playing for a share of the league title rather than an outright crown in his final regular season game next Friday, but the lead scorers alongside him are just getting started. Knight, the head coach’s son, scored 13, with 10 in the first half, and Langford added 11. The Mariners played the Colts even in a high-scoring first that ended with the teams deadlocked at 23 and outscored them in both the second and fourth, but the third was too much to overcome.
“That was a game we thought we could win, but that third quarter was terrible,” Knight commented. “22-10 doesn’t usually happen to us. A lot of turnovers.”
The Mariners will play their final home game Tuesday against Mission San Jose (6-16, 2-10), while the Colts will hit the road again to face American (10-13, 4-7).
