MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — When the Central Coast Section seeding committee meets in February to set up playoff brackets, members will need to weigh the strengths of various leagues against each other.
The SCVAL-De Anza’s profile got a boost on Thursday night, with Mountain View beating BVAL-Mount Hamilton member Silver Creek, 56-47.
The Spartans used a mix of superior depth and size to overpower the Raiders, leading by as much as 13 in the fourth quarter before holding off a late charge to seal the nonleague victory.
“I don’t think I’ve been on a team this deep,” said Joey Peir, who finished with 13 points and nine rebounds. “We can go 10 deep in practice, and it makes everything competitive.”
Five different players scored at least six points for Mountain View (6-3), with Max Telkamp scoring a team-high 14, including 11 in the second half. His 3-pointer from the corner off a Peir assist stretched the lead to 39-29 to close the third quarter, and he connected twice early in the fourth to give the Spartans their largest lead at 47-34.
“He saved us tonight. He can shoot the ball well,” Mountain View head coach Kevin Mack said of Telkamp. “He’s struggled to start the year, but tonight was his coming-out party.”
Silver Creek (8-2) did score the next six points after the last of Telkamp’s threes, but a Joe Brown steal set up an easy layup for Telkamp to extend the advantage to 49-40. The Spartans struggled to shoot in the closing minutes but got a pair of key stops and a huge offensive rebound from Peir off his own missed free throw to earn him two more shots at the line, which he made.
“We emphasize all five guys attacking the glass,” Peir said.
The Spartans held the lead for all but the opening four minutes, going in front with an 8-0 run in the first quarter and leading 27-21 at halftime. Apollo Eugene’s layup midway through the second quarter capped off a quick 6-0 Silver Creek run to cut the lead to a single point, but a Peir basket, a Ryan Davenport three off a Telkamp offensive rebound and a Jack Pillsbury layup extended the lead to 26-18.
Peir gave the hosts their first double-digit lead early in the third, and while the Raiders did close to within five on baskets by Eugene and Eric Mai, a pair of Amaan Punjabi free throws and a Telkamp three put Mountain View back up by 10.
Eugene scored 21 and grabbed 10 rebounds, leading all players in both categories. Mai and Viren Halaharivi each scored eight, with Halaharivi scoring seven in the opening quarter. Ultimately, Silver Creek was undone by a lack of depth, with just six players seeing significant minutes.
“They’re good, but they play 5-6 guys,” Mack said. “We press all game and we run-and-jump out of our man press, and our hope was to wear them down when it got to the second half.”
Mountain View is set to participate in the Aptos/Santa Cruz Warriors Invitational next week, beginning with an 11 a.m. tilt on Monday against North Monterey County (3-6). Silver Creek will travel to face Carmel (2-8) on Wednesday.
