ATHERTON, Calif. — Just five days after Sacred Heart Prep’s Kevin Carney torched Menlo for six 3-pointers in the first 10 minutes, the Knights limited him to five points in the second edition of their Valparaiso Avenue rivalry.
It hardly mattered. Emmer Nichols outscored Menlo’s entire team by himself in the first half, Aidan Braccia repeated the feat in the third quarter and the Gators rolled to a 68-33 victory, completing the sweep of their nearby rival for a second consecutive year.
“I made my first two shots and my teammates kept looking for me and kept calling plays for me,” said Nichols, who scored 17 in the first half to Menlo’s 16. “When you get the crowd behind you, shots keep going in.”
Nichols and Braccia each scored a game-high 21 points, with Braccia outscoring the Knights 14-11 in the third and going on a personal 9-0 run over a 49-second span, with a pair of and-1s and a 3-pointer to put Sacred Heart Prep (18-3, 11-0 WBAL) up 57-23.
“Space opened up for me and I got a couple of long rebounds for layups,” the Belmont commit said of his third-quarter surge.
Braccia also tied for the team lead with seven rebounds, matching Jake York’s total.
“He’s always been a really good defensive rebounder, probably the best point guard rebounder that I’ve ever had,” SHP head coach Tony Martinelli said of Braccia. “He attacks the glass, he’s got a quick jumping ability and he sees good angles.”
Defensively, the 33 points the Gators allowed were actually the second-most they had yielded in the four-game week, but Menlo (12-7, 6-4) had scored 53 on Tuesday. At home on Sunday, the Knights shot just 23.6 percent (13-for-55).
“Compared to last Tuesday, our ball movement was exceptional,” Menlo head coach Ben Batory said. “We exhibited the passing and the movement, but we didn’t exhibit any shooting ability whatsoever.”
Despite the final score, the Knights were markedly better on defense, allowing 33 points in the first half after surrendering 46 at SHP.
“We watched film and saw how aggressive they were getting through ball screens. We fought through screens like they did and repped it for the last three days,” Batory explained. “We typically switch and make our lack of size a strength, but this time, it was heart, effort and intensity, and we fought through everything. I’m proud that we achieved that.”
Sam Reznik led the Knights with six points off the bench. Menlo’s entire starting lineup combined to score just 16 points for the game, compared to the 21 apiece that Braccia and Nichols delivered.
“None of our minutes were set in stone,” Nichols said of the Gators’ intensity. “Our coaching staff pushed in practice like we’ve never been pushed before. They said, ‘if you’re not boxing out, if you’re not playing defense, I don’t care if you started last year or played freshman year, you’re gonna sit.’ They drove that into our team this week, and I think it paid off.”
With a win at Crystal Springs Uplands (7-11, 0-9 WBAL) on Tuesday, the Gators can lock up no worse than a share of first place. Menlo hosts Harker (10-11, 4-7) on Tuesday, kicking off a stretch of four games in five days.
