After slow start, Justin-Siena goes on massive second quarter run to gain control, beat Lick-Wilmerding in playoff opener
By Kyle Foster, photo courtesy of Eric Thompson (Shamboozled.com)
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
Sometimes it takes getting punched in the gut to wake up and get back into the game. This is, even more, the case when you’ve had an unprecedented week off without a game.
On Saturday night at the Daniel J. Clark Gym, the No. 2 seed Justin-Siena basketball team was able to take an early punch to roll past No. 10 seed Lick-Wilmerding of San Francisco, 66-39, in the quarterfinal round of the CIF North Coast Section Division 4 playoffs.
Justin-Siena (25-4) took control of the contest in the second quarter where they held the Tigers to just four points. In that period, they ran off a massive 16-0 run over the first 6:05 of the frame to take a 24-17 lead.
A major reason they were able to carry a 32-21 lead into the half was the fact that they ramped up the defensive intensity and guarded Lick-Wilmerding a bit tighter.
“Our defensive intensity certainly rose, and that was important,” Justin-Siene head coach and athletic director George Nessman explained. “We concentrated on getting the ball in the lane rather than shooting quick threes, which we were doing in the first quarter and I think the results are obvious from those changes. Those are things we talked about prior to prior to the game. So we’re just getting back on script a little bit.”
Before that, the Tigers (15-13) were able to land the opening blow and make things a bit more interesting in the first quarter. That period saw Lick-Wilmerding go on an 11-0 run to end the period, which would give them a 17-8 lead when it was all over.
“They’re a good team and they have some good shooters and they knocked down some threes,” Nessman said of the slow and sluggish start the Braves had following a week break in between games. “We needed to get a little closer to him and make it more difficult for him to shoot threes and not leave them open. But I think we responded the right way.”
Another thing that helped Justin-Siena was the fact that they were able to get their key guys going. Leading the way Travis Hightower getting all the attention. Despite the fact that Hightower was gaining a lot of attention, he still finished as the game’s leading scorer with 21 points while bringing in 9 rebounds, and blocking 2 shots. The senior VVAL player of the year scored 11 points after the break and made 3 of 4 free throws. He also scored his 1,00th career point in the third quarter and was the second to do this season.
“When he gets the ball in the paint, he can attract defensive attention like no one else, I think,” Cleary pointed out. “Having that ability is very important for our perimeter and being able to get us good looks. When he finds our shooters on the perimeter, it’s a great asset to us.”
However, the main beneficiary of that attention was Cleary. The senior scored 11 points while making 3 shots from beyond the arc and scoring 6 points before the break.
“It was kind of a mindset I had going into this game. My coaches were trying to get me into that position that I was in last year,” Cleary said as to what he changed to start scoring the ball a little bit more. “I locked in before the game got a bunch of shots up and it’s always been there and I think it’s finally just coming back. Our team is doing what we need to do to find to get the ball where it needs to be.”
Besides the two double-digit scorers, the Braves evened out the scoring the rest of the way. Vince Jackson (8 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks), Ma’el Blunt (8 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks), Jaden Washington (6 points, 3 rebounds), Andrew Grimshaw (6 points, 1 rebound), and Jackson Dunkley (3 points, 1 rebound) rounded out the scoring for Justin-Siena.
The victory is important because it moves the Braves onto the semifinals where they’ll host No. 3 seed Ygnacio Valley-Concord on Wednesday night at 7 PM. Ygnacio Valley beat No. 11 seed Kelseyville 94-54 on Saturday night. The win on Saturday also means the Braves will be playing in the CIF State playoffs as well, for the second straight season.
“First of all, we have a lot of support here on campus and secondly, it’s a tribute to our guys,” Nessman said of punching their ticket back to the CIF State playoffs. “They’ve been dedicated. They worked hard in the offseason to become better basketball players and better athletes. They’ve been in the weight room. They put in the time that you need to do to accomplish what they’ve been able to accomplish and I’m really proud of them and our school communities rallied around him and it’s nice to see.”
You can view the updated playoff bracket here.
