Resilient Justin-Siena goes on massive run to start second half to get past Lowell and move onto CIF Northern California Regional semifinals
By Kyle Foster, photo courtesy of Don Lex (LuckyDuckImages.com)
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
In sports, we always want to see how a team responds to adversity. In basketball, this could mean a slow start where shots just won’t go down no matter what you do.
What’s even more impressive is when a team shows that they can do this when the games are win or go home. This is what the fourth-seeded Justin-Siena boys basketball team did Thursday night when they beat Lowell-San Francisco 58-45 in the quarterfinals of the CIF Division IV Northern California Regional.
Lowell (22-8) started the game on an 8-0 run, which had the Braves flustered early on. It also didn’t help that Justin-Siena wasn’t getting shots to fall as well.
“Credit to Lowell. They came out with great defensive intensity. They dictated the flow of the game, and we fell victim to it, and they got off to a quick start,” Justin-Siena head coach Nick Guillory said of the Cardinals’ fast start. “We were a little frantic, not as focused as we needed to be. But this team has proven time and time and again, they can take some punches, get composed, go on a run, and then put the game away. So it’s just a testament to them. At the end of the day, it comes down to will, and composure and they showed both of it. So I was pleased.”
Justin-Siena (19-11) came out of the break and went on a 13-2 run, which is where they seized control of the contest.
“When we saw the ball go through the room a couple of times, I think we just use that momentum to carry us through,” Justin-Siena junior Asher Cleary said of the huge run that last till the 3:36 mark of the third quarter. “But we just stuck with what we knew and that was it. We ran our plays and shots started falling.”
The Braves also finished with a trio of double-digit scorers, which played a huge part in them getting the victory.
Cleary finished the game tied as the leading scorer with 16 points. He also grabbed 5 rebounds and made all four free throws. The 6-foot-2 junior caught fire in the second half, where he erupted for 12 points.
“I think it was a matter of staying confident because my shots weren’t falling in the first half,” Cleary explained. “So I just stuck with it and a couple of threes fell.”
Guillory said Cleary is a player who is always taking big shots.
“Asher’s, a big shot taker, big shot maker,” he pointed out. “One thing that I love he missed his first three or four but he’s got (the) ultimate green light for us, kept shooting, and stay confident and hit them in the second half when we needed him. So anytime he can get hot like that such a boost, made his free throws got to the rim a couple (of) times high degree of difficulty shots and finish them so yeah, Asher was massive.”
Also finishing with 16 points was Travis Hightower. He scored 14 points in the second half of this one, grabbed 7 rebounds, blocked 3 shots, and had a steal.
“He was a catalyst for our run,” Guillory added. “He struggled to score in the first half, so getting out to a quick start in the second was big and Travis has made a ton of big shots. Three ball was falling, he got to the rim late in the third (with a) power hop left-handed jump hook, which was tough like need to have that. He just made plays. So really good job.”
Vince Jackson finished with a double-double of 11 points, 13 rebounds, and 2 blocked shots as well. Like his teammates, he also caught fire in the second half when he scored 7 of his points. Jackson converted 3 of 4 free throws as well.
“Vince just attracts so much attention so when he gets the ball on the block and it’s not there for him it creates scoring opportunities for others,” Guillory pointed out. (A) prime example we went to him early in the third, Ma’el cut off in Vince found him for a layup. So he opens a lot of things up and then when we need him to go get us a bucket, he makes big ones. That and one in the fourth quarter when he went coast to coast it’s hard to say what play seals it or what have you, but that’s pretty darn close to doing that.”
Rounding out the scoring for Justin-Siena was Jaden Washington (6 points, 4 rebounds), Ma’el Blunt (5 points), and Andrew Grimshaw (2 points, 2 rebounds). In the first half, it was Washington keeping the Braves in the game as they struggled to score. After all, they went into the half down 19-16.
“We couldn’t score for a lot of it,” Guillory said of the first half effort by Washington. “So every bucket he made was massive. A lot of them were off offensive rebounds, cuts, hustle plays, and like you said, that’s (the) will to victory. He made the most of his minutes and I think without him in that first half, it’s a different ballgame. So I thought Jaden played awesome.”
The victory means the Braves will move onto the regional semifinals on Saturday where they’ll face top-seeded Enterprise in Redding at 6 pm. Enterprise (21-8) was a 38-36 winner over No. 8 seed Mountain View on Thursday night. To see the updated bracket, go here.
