Justin-Siena jumps on Eureka early, pulls away to advance to quarterfinals in CIF North Coast Section playoffs
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
When the playoffs arrive, it’s ideal if you can start the game fast since it’s much easier to play with the lead.
Some would find themselves screaming Eureka when they got the gold they needed, but on Wednesday night it was the Justin-Siena boys’ basketball team who hit gold when they beat Eureka 49-31 in the first round of the CIF North Coast Section Divison 4 playoffs on Wednesday night.
Justin-Siena (16-10) also jumped on Eureka (9-17) right away. An 11-3 run at the start of the game got Justin-Siena off to a quick start, which was something they emphasized beforehand.
“So we preached getting a fast start, especially in a playoff game is huge,” Justin-Siena head coach Nick Guillory explained. “Getting a jump, not letting them get into their stuff, playing with the lead is obviously more comfortable. So we wanted to just play our game, which is to play sound defense get out in transition, crash the glass, and that allowed us to go up 11-3, so didn’t do anything different. Just extra emphasis on jumping out to a hot start.”
They put the game away behind a 12-0 run as the second quarter came to an end.
Though the first half was impressive, the second half was a very flat one for Justin-Siena. In the second half, they didn’t have a quarter where they scored double-digit points as a team.
“I think maybe (we) got a little too comfortable with a 14-point lead,” Guillory said of the sluggish second half. “As we advance in the playoffs, you can’t have lapses like that. So that’s a big emphasis every quarter, especially the first four (minutes) of any quarter matter a lot. So we hope to clean that up against McKinleyville.”
The Braves finished with a duo of scorers with 12 points each that led to the nice inside-out play. Vince Jackson finished with a double-double of 12 points, 14, rebounds, and a blocked shot. The compliment of that was Asher Cleary who scored 12 points and grabbed 8 rebounds.
“I think just being available and being ready to catch and shoot from three,” Cleary said as to why he was so successful in the game. “That’s something that my coaches have emphasized for me, and they want me to do that as much as I can. When our team was moving the ball like we were in the first half, I was getting great looks.”
Cleary thought he and Jackson were feeding off of each other’s energy.
“Yes, I completely agree. He’s very aggressive on the boards, and when he gets those boards, it gives us the possession we need to keep playing hard,” he explained. “I think his intensity is something our team thrives off of, especially when he gets going in the paint. That’s something that’s pretty huge for us.”
Guillory said that Cleary’s hot start from outside that allowed Jackson to get going in the post.
“They work well together because Vince establishes an inside presence, defense collapses that opens up threes for Asher. But today, I think Asher got started first which pulls a defense out and lets Travis (Hightower), Jaden (Washington) – our bigs operate down there,” he explained. “I tell Asher we are a better team when he shoots threes, and he did tonight.”
Hightower (9 points, 4 rebounds, 1 block), Jaden Washington (5 points, 8 rebounds, 1 block), Caden McDevitt (5 points, 1 rebound), DJ Ryan (4 points, 6 rebounds), and Ma’el Blunt (2 points, 5 rebounds) rounded out the Braves scoring.
The victory means Justin-Siena will move onto the quarterfinals in the CIF North Coast Section Divison 4 playoffs where they’ll host McKinleyville on Saturday night at 7 pm. No. 5 seed McKinleyville beat No. 12 seed, Fort Bragg, 68-45 on Wednesday night. To view the updated bracket, go here.
