OAKLAND, CA – The Marin Catholic and Half Moon Bay basketball teams paid homage to Martin Luther King Jr. and got a competitive game in Saturday at Piedmont High.
The occasion was the final contest of the eight-game Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial one-day event. Half Moon Bay defeated the Wildcats 70-47 in a splendid effort by the San Mateo County powerhouse.
“I thought we played very well,” Cougars coach Rich Forslund said. “I thought we did a really good job on offense and defense too – we just fouled too much.”
Forslund, the former Archbishop Riordan coach, is rarely totally satisfied – one reason the Cougars are a perennial 20-plus game winner and post-season fixture.
“They’re just so well-schooled in the game of basketball. It’s fun to watch,” Marin Catholic coach Mike Saia said. “(It’s) terrible to play against, but fun to watch.”
Before the game the teams honored slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. by standing at attention as a player from each team --- Austin Hilton for HMB and Andrew Panicacci for Marin Catholic – read a portion of King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech.
“That was a great deal,” said HMB assistant coach Cantai Sloan, who is African-American. “(Hilton’s) one of the team captains and he believes in (civil rights), too.”
Said the senior 6-foot-7 post Hilton, who led the Cougars with 19 points and 12 rebounds: “It’s a respect thing. MLK Day is a big day, obviously. We’re representing something bigger than us. We’ve learned about it a lot in school so it was in my brain already.”
Paced by senior forward Tommy Nuno who had 10 first-quarter points, Half Moon Bay bolted to a 37-28 halftime lead. Then the Cougars opened the second half on a 9-0 run, punctuated by Hilton’s 3-pointer from beyond the circle.
“That big kid, Austin (Hilton), he’s just so efficient down low,” Saia said. “He has a plan when he catches the ball. Tommy (Nuno) does a nice job and No. 30 (Jake Salerno). They just have all the right pieces – good shooters, leadership, post play and they play hard.”
HMB led 46-30 after Hilton’s three and was not going to be caught, even with high-scoring Joey Calcaterra in the lineup. The slender junior 6-3 guard scored 21 points and kept the Cougars on their toes all game long. Dempsey Roggenbuck added 15 points for Marin Catholic.
Despite the loss, Saia can’t be too dismayed to have Calcaterra in the lineup for another 1 ½ seasons.
“He’s exciting and a heck of a scorer,” the Wildcats’ coach said. “He’s working on being an all-around basketball player, but he’s really dynamic.”
Nuno finished with 15 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for HMB. Guard Jake Salinero had his third consecutive impressive game of the week as he scored 11 points, including going 3 of 7 from beyond the 3-point arc.
Half Moon Bay (15-1, 4-0) hosts El Camino at 7 p.m. Wednesday in a PAL-North game and then has a TV game Friday at 7:45 p.m. against visiting rival Terra Nova.
Marin Catholic (12-6, 4-2) hosts Terra Linda at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
