Justin-Siena gains edge in second quarter to get breathing room before pulling away in second half to beat Los Gatos in CIF Division 3 playoff opener
By Kyle Foster, photo courtesy of Don Lex (LuckyDuckImages.com)
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
It’s pretty noticeable when a team takes command in the basketball game. When this happens, a team is extremely tough to stop, especially if they have momentum.
In Tuesday night’s CIF State Division 3 playoff opener, this is what the No. 7 Justin-Siena boys basketball team did as they beat the No. 10 seed, 63-44, on Tuesday night at the Daniel J. Clark Gym.
The second quarter was a theme of the game, as this was where everything changed. After all, Justin-Siena (27-5) was able to gain the separation they needed in that period. With the game tied at 17 midway through the second quarter, the Braves went on a 15-5 burst to end the frame and take a 32-22 lead into the break.
“I think we really locked in on defense and focused on moving the ball,” Justin-Siena senior guard Asher Cleary said as to how the game changed midway through the second. “We had a rough first quarter when like when it came to turnovers and feeling and being rushed within our offense. But I think in the second quarter, we figured that out. We settled down on defense, got to our guys, and on offense we were just moving the ball and getting much better shots.”
A large reason for that run to occur was the fact that Justin-Siena ramped up their defensive intensity on the Wildcats. Throughout the final three periods, the Braves made it tough to score in the paint as they were able to block a total of 5 shots in the game.
“We don’t wall up like some teams,” Justin-Siena head coach and athletic director George Nessman explained. “Some teams just stand straight up and wall up and that’s a strategy and a lot of you know better coaches than me do it that way. But we tell our guys to keep guarding down around the basket. Keep defending don’t let the offensive player have the initiative, stay after him, and challenge every shot, and I think we did a good job of that.”
The other thing that helped a lot in this one was the fact that 6-foot-7 senior guard-forward Travis Hightower finished with a game-high of 34 points, 11 rebounds, and a blocked shot to also finish with a double-double in the contest. Hightower made 3 shots from beyond the arc while also making all 5 of his shoots from the free-throw line.
“Travis has the ability to turn on the light quite a bit and dominate action for pretty long stretches, and I thought he did that tonight,” Nessman pointed out of the standout senior. “He made a couple of steals defensively, blocked a couple of shots, got some big offensive rebounds, and was attacking the rim and also made threes so that’s a complete game for somebody.”
He also scored 19 points prior to the break in the game. However, something changed after the first quarter for the senior as he erupted for 13 points in the second quarter.
“When he gets on, it’s pretty hard to stop him,” Cleary pointed out. “I think he started making shots from the perimeter and that was a major threat. But at the same time, he’s so good in the paint that if his perimeter like if perimeter offense is a threat, it’ll open up his ability to attack even more.”
The other thing that was key in this game was the fact that there were other supplemental scorers in double figures as well. It also helped that they didn’t miss a foul shot in the game either as they were a perfect 10 of 10 from the charity stripe.
One of those was Vince Jackson. The senior forward finished with a double-double of 10 points, 11 rebounds, and 2 blocked shots. Jackson scored 6 of those points after the break and made both of his shots from the line.
The final double-digit scorer was Cleary. The guard finished with 10 points while grabbing 2 rebounds. Cleary scored 7 of those points before the half as well.
Cleary was shooting the ball may be the best he had all season in the game, as he looked extremely comfortable and it showed with his scoring.
“I’ve been trying to stay just smart, composed, and letting the ball come to me,” Cleary said of his approach as to how he was able to find a good shot rhythm in the game. My first couple of shots is when I know that they’re good shots, they come to me and I think that’s a big factor and how smooth like my shots feeling on a given night.”
Others scoring for Justin-Siena were Jaden Washington (5 points, 2 rebounds, 2 blocked shots), Ma’el Blunt (2 points, 2 rebounds), and DJ Ryan (2 points).
With the victory, Justin-Siena will move on to the quarterfinals on Thursday night at 7 PM where they will travel to Sacramento to face No. 2 seed Rio Americano. The Raiders (27-5) beat No. 15 Lowell of San Francisco 54-37 on Tuesday night. You can view the updated bracket here.
