After a somewhat slow start for a usually quick and versatile Serra basketball team, the Padres were able to jump out to a big lead in the second quarter against visiting Burlingame High School and never looked back on their way to a 60-36 victory Friday night.
“It was good to bounce back and win a rivalry game like this,” forward Henry Caruso said. “I thought we played really well tonight.”
During the first quarter the scoring was back and forth and the Panthers were out-rebounding the Padres.
“We needed to ramp up the pressure,” Serra coach Chuck Rapp said, still upset about it after the game. “We were being out-rebounded.”
In the second quarter the Padres seemed to get things together and jumped out to a 33-15 lead at the half. However, it was clear that the team was still not playing to its full potential, and needed to make some adjustments.
Then, in the third quarter the Padres picked things up. They made most of their high-percentage shots, forced turnover after turnover, and started beating Burlingame to the ball.
The Panthers could not keep up with the Padres in the second half and didn’t even get on the board until there was 1:30 left in the third quarter.
“We started boxing out and getting more boards,” Rapp said. “Our defense started creating offense and then we steamrolled through.”
Caruso finished the night with 17 points and four rebounds while freshman Eddie Stansberry added 13 points, to improve the Padres mark to 4-1.
As for the Panthers, they move to 3-4 on the season but showed resiliency throughout the game fighting all the way to the final minute. Will Dobson and Nick Loew combined for 10 points and grabbed some big rebounds. Tyler Paratte led the Panthers with seven points.
The Padres next game is Saturday night December 15th at 7:30 p.m. The Padres will be hosting their annual Merv Harris Classic and will take on Menlo-Atherton.
Burlingame meets another WCAL school, Bellarmine, December 20th.
