Lancers, Spartans eliminated from CCS

By Pete Borello, Town Crier Staff Writer

photos by R. Alan Hwang/special to the Town Crier Pinewood’s Nick Fraioli, defended by two Mid-Peninsula players, scored six points in Saturday’s CCS Division V quarterfinal win.

Overtime was exactly what the Pinewood School boys basketball team needed to restart its offense in the Central Coast Section Division V quarterfinals against Mid-Peninsula.

The Panthers could no longer squeeze the ball and use the clock to hold on to their lead as they tried to do in the fourth quarter. It was time to score or go home.

“When we got to overtime, we knew we had to score and get back to being aggressive,” said senior Tim Wang, who lifted Pinewood to a 34-33 upset victory Saturday at De Anza College.

Wang made four of the Panthers’ six points in overtime, including their lone field goal. With just under a minute left, he drove into the lane, jump-stopped and hit a shot with defenders flying at him. It put Pinewood up 32-30.

The third-seeded Dragons’ next possession ended with a miss and they fouled after No. 11 Pinewood came up with the ball. Varoon Bose extended the lead to four by hitting both free throws with 3.5 seconds left and held up his index finger in celebration.

“Varoon is our captain, and he hit four big (free throws) the other night,” said coach Andrew Slayton, referring to the Panthers’ 40-29 win at No. 6 St. Francis of Watsonville in the first round. “He thrives in that situation.”

Mid-Peninsula’s Jamar Watson could do no more than narrow Pinewood’s margin of victory with his 3-pointer at the buzzer.

It was a much different result than the last time these teams played; Mid-Peninsula won by 18 points in December.

“Our energy level was a lot better this time,” Slayton said. “We knew we had to be scrappy.”

Pinewood (15-11) led almost the entire way Saturday. The Panthers were up 12-6 after the first quarter, as Michel Nofal scored five of his team-high nine points.

The Dragons (18-4) cut the lead to three by halftime, but Pinewood built it back up in a third quarter in which Tyler Mosher and Bose drained 3-pointers. The Panthers entered the fourth with a 26-18 advantage and got it to double digits when Nick Fraioli scored inside off a lob pass from Johnny Capin with seven minutes left.

Pinewood wouldn’t score again in regulation, shying away from shots and turning the ball over seven times. This led to the Dragons’ 10-0 run, capped by Kevin O’Farrell’s tying 3-pointer.

Pinewood faces No. 2 Valley Christian-Dublin (18-10) at 8 p.m today in a semifinal at De Anza.

Lancers lose to Riordan

The Lancers trailed by only three points at halftime before losing 47-37 to Riordan in the CCS Division III quarterfinals Saturday at St. Ignatius.

“They’re probably glad to have us behind them,” St. Francis coach Steve Filios said of the fellow West Catholic Athletic League team. “We presented one of the biggest challenges for them.”

The challenge could have been even greater had the Lancers (13-15) done a better job shooting and rebounding. They shot just 29 percent from the field and were only 6 of 15 from the foul line. Riordan (19-11) held a 38-29 rebounding advantage.

“Against the top seed you have to be on all cylinders with your game, and we just had a rough time scoring.” Filios said. “Credit Riordan’s defense; they made us work so hard to get shots.”

Particularly in the third quarter, as St. Francis was outscored 11-4. This put the Lancers in an 11-point hole entering the fourth.

Robert Bow’s 10 points led the Lancers; Wes Libuit had seven.

In Thursday’s first-round game, St. Francis topped No. 9 Willow Glen 63-52 behind Steve Flory’s career-high 24 points.

Mitty stymies Spartans

“It was huge to get to the second round,” said coach Bob Heckmann, who estimated it had been at least 12 years since the Spartans last won a playoff game. “Going through the rigors in such a tough league, it was really a big deal for us.”

Mountain View (10-18), which finished sixth in the SCVAL De Anza Division, ran into a Mitty team (26-3) that placed first in the WCAL. The second-seeded Monarchs didn’t take long to show their dominance over the No. 10 Spartans; they led 26-12 after a quarter and 45-19 at halftime.

“We were pretty shell-shocked,” Heckmann said. “There was no question they were the superior team.”

Kevin Metsers paced Mountain View with 17 points and Terence Willis, the team’s top scorer, had 15. He picked up his third foul four minutes in and went to the bench until the third quarter.

Willis scored a career-high 33 points in the Spartans’ 76-61 opening-round win at No. 7 Westmoor (19-8) Feb. 22.