HALF MOON BAY, Calif. — Even with an inexperienced roster that features just two seniors, the Half Moon Bay boys basketball team proved that it's still the team to beat in the PAL-North.
Sophomore Jaeden Hutchins recorded a double-double two nights after spraining his ankle and the Cougars never trailed in a 68-53 win over El Camino.
“I didn’t think there was a chance in hell he would be playing,” Half Moon Bay head coach John Parsons said of Hutchins, who suffered the injury on the first play of a closer-than-expected 55-48 win over Westmoor on Wednesday. “He could barely walk and it swelled all the way up, but he spent a ton of time trying to rehab that thing and do whatever he could."
It was evident from the opening possession that Hutchins, who was considered a game-time decision, was just fine, scoring off a Zeke Syme assist. The 6-foot-7 wing added a 3-pointer from the wing a minute later, and he scored back-to-back baskets in the fourth to open up a 13-point advantage after a Josh Harold 3-pointer.
“He was huge for us tonight,” Parsons added. “I gained a lot of respect for him for putting on the Superman cape for us.”
With 17 points and 12 rebounds, Hutchins was a main contributor for Half Moon Bay (6-4, 3-0 PAL-North), but it was hardly a one-man show. Drew Dorwin scored 15, Owen Wooliever added 13 and Gavin Glynn scored eight off the bench, all in the third quarter.
Glynn’s points came when the Cougars needed them most. HMB went into halftime up by 12, but held just a 37-33 advantage after El Camino (8-5, 1-1) went on a 9-0 run. Hutchins and Glynn each hit a pair of free throws to steady the ship, and after the Colts cut the lead to 45-39 on one of Harold’s five 3-pointers, it was Glynn, one of four sophomores on the roster, who answered the call.
He connected from beyond the arc off a pass from Wooliever, and after the visitors attempted a hurried shot with 10 seconds remaining in the quarter instead of winding the clock down, Glynn cashed in again from outside to stretch the lead back to 12.
“Our last couple of practices were with five or six guys, so we weren’t able to do situational stuff,” El Camino head coach Boe Egipto said of the sequence at the end of the third quarter. “We couldn’t really go full-court, so we mostly did cardio and skill development.”
Positive COVID tests left the Colts with just seven players for Tuesday’s league opener, a 63-31 thumping of Terra Nova, and they were still down six players on Friday, including key contributors Eli Cosico, Andrew Giron and Chris Pailano.
“We were a little fatigued down the stretch, and they were outrebounding us,” Egipto said.
Even with a reduced supporting cast, El Camino’s two biggest contributors put up impressive numbers. Harold scored 20, while senior center Jonathan Claybon finished with 22 points and 15 rebounds.
“They give it their all every night,” Egipto explained. “That’s what I love about these kids. We dug ourselves a little hole, but the way we fought, I’m not mad at that.”
That hole was dug in the second quarter, which the Cougars opened on a 7-0 run to go up 24-13. A Claybon and-1 with 4:51 left in the first half made it a five-point game, but the hosts got the next eight off a spinning Wooliever layup, two baskets from Syme and an uncontested Shane Krawetz putback. Wooliever’s layup was a product of one of Dio Lucido’s five assists, three of which came in the second quarter. Lucido scored just four points but also added six rebounds.
“Dio doesn’t get the points, but he runs the ship for us,” Parsons said. “He’s our steady guy who keeps guys organized and makes the game easier for everybody else.”
A lead that sat at double digits for most of the fourth quarter did get trimmed to eight with the last of Harold’s 3-pointers and back-to-back Claybon putbacks, but a Lucido offensive rebound set up a short Dorwin jumper and Wooliever’s 3-pointer with 1:47 left ensured there would be no need for late free throws.
Syme and Wooliever are the lone seniors on Half Moon Bay’s roster, and neither had starting experience before December. Both came off the bench on a 2021 team that went 21-4, and along with Dorwin, a junior who’s been on the varsity roster since his freshman year, they’ve had to adapt to being the elder statesmen.
“There’s a lot of buy-in from our younger guys,” Wooliever said. “You’ve got guys like Jaeden playing hard and guys like Gavin coming in and accepting their roles off the bench.”
Friday was easily the most complete game of the year for a Cougar team that had shown flashes of brilliance in December but also was given a few harsh reality checks, such as a 22-point loss to Priory.
“It’s been a battle for us and we’re still not where we want to be, but we’re gonna continue to try to make positive strides,” Parsons explained.
Saturday will be a great measuring stick for the Cougars, who host third-ranked Sacred Heart Prep (7-2) at 5 p.m. in a non-league contest. HMB resumes league play next Friday with a visit to Terra Nova (7-8, 1-2). El Camino hosts Oceana (4-11, 0-3) on Wednesday.
Girls: Half Moon Bay 52, El Camino 38
Abby Kennedy started Friday night hot, and after cooling off in the middle quarters, finished just as hot as she had started.
Kennedy, who plans to continue her basketball career at Division III Brandeis, scored 10 in the first quarter and another 10 in the fourth as part of a 26-point, 14-rebound effort in a 52-38 win over El Camino.
She was responsible for seven points in a 13-0 run to start the game and drilled back-to-back threes in the fourth to open up a 47-31 advantage with four minutes remaining, effectively sealing the game.
Despite trailing 13-0 and 16-4 after the second of Kennedy’s four 3-pointers, El Camino (7-6, 1-1 PAL-North) managed to hang around. The Colts trailed by just three late in the second quarter when Niva Moors-Tafilalie scored off one of Kayla Ikuma’s five assists, and Half Moon Bay (10-4, 2-0) led just 34-30 after three quarters when Ikuma hit Mariah Flores for a layup off an inbound pass.
Every time the Colts came knocking, either Kennedy or Alli Dioli answered the call. HMB opened the fourth with a pair of Kennedy free throws and a Dioli three, and the pair combined for every point in the 13-1 run that put the game out of reach.
Dioli finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds, and like Kennedy, went 4-for-4 at the line. Kennedy was the recipient of both of Dioli’s assists, scoring off a long inbound pass to send the Cougars into the break up 26-21. Dioli also assisted on the last of Kennedy’s 3-pointers.
Freshman point guard Delaney Dorwin dished out four assists to go with her five points and five rebounds. Tiana Cruz paced El Camino with 11 points, while Flores, a sophomore and the only non-senior to see time for Michael Morla’s squad, scored nine. Ikuma and Kailani Thomas each chipped in seven. Nine of Kennedy’s 14 rebounds were on the offensive end, including a putback that put the home side up 30-23 early in the third. In all, Half Moon Bay outrebounded El Camino 44-26.
