Liam McDevitt’s monster game leads Justin-Siena past Hercules
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
League play may be the most important time of the season.
But even with that being said, it’s always nice to win the final game before the league season gets underway. That’s exactly what the Justin-Siena boys basketball team ended up accomplishing on Monday night when they beat Hercules 51-36 to cap off the non-league portion of their schedule.
Yet, it didn’t come easy. After going into the half leading by four, Hercules (8-6) came out and went on a 4-0 run to tie things up at 26. Things appeared to be slipping away right out of the half.
“I think we realized that,” Justin-Siena coach David Granucci explained. “We called the timeout. We talked to our guys. We didn’t really make an adjustment because there was no adjustment to make. It was more about ‘take a deep breath, relax, it’s the same team we played in the first half.’”
But, by far the biggest reason the Braves (6-6) won the game was the play of senior guard Liam McDevitt.
McDevitt ended the night with an astounding 36 points, which he scored in a variety of ways with three rebounds.
“It was a really good game for him,” Granucci said. “ He’s had games where he’s played really, really well and maybe hasn’t scored quite as many points. A lot of what he got was through our offense and they really didn’t make an adjustment. So we just kept going to some of the same stuff and we were getting to the rim and he was getting to the rim. He’s got maybe a few shots per game that he can take if he feels comfortable or in rhythm even though it’s not in the fluidity of what we do. But tonight, he got most of his stuff from what we execute and run.”
“I just had it going tonight,” McDevitt explained. “My teammates kept getting me the ball and the coaches kept drawing stuff up for me and put me in good spots. I was just able to capitalize on that.”
However, quietly having a solid night was Vincent Jackson. The freshman ended the night with ten points and eight rebounds.
“The last week and a half, two weeks he’s been really good,” Granucci said of the freshman. “We didn’t have a great tournament as far as the results, but he played really well in the Head-Royce tournament that we were in before this game. I think the game is starting to slow down for him. We’ve been on about getting more aggressive and being more physical. He’s super coachable and is responding and he’s doing a really good job.”
Justin-Siena will now have four days off before they begin Vine Valley Athletic League play on Friday night at 7 p.m. when they visit American Canyon. In last year’s VVAL opener, American Canyon beat Justin-Siena 47-40.
