Awaking from a week-long snooze that included a free-fall from
the top of the league standings, the Live Oak High boys basketball
team used a smothering defense to beat host Salinas 62-49 in
Tri-County Athletic League play on Friday.
Apparently the prospect of ruining a season of success with a few lackluster performances is a great motivator.
Awaking from a week-long snooze that included a free-fall from the top of the league standings, the Live Oak High boys basketball team used a smothering defense to beat host Salinas 62-49 in Tri-County Athletic League play on Friday.
The victory ended a season-high two-game losing streak for the Acorns, who improved to 6-2 in the TCAL and 19-4 overall with the win. It also boosted Live Oak into sole possession of second place in the league because first-place Hollister-San Benito (7-1 in league) beat back surging North Salinas (5-3 in league) by a 68-63 score on Friday.
Earlier in the week, North Salinas had upset the Acorns to pull into a tie for the TCAL’s second slot just a few days after Live Oak had lost its undefeated league record in a loss to the Balers a few days earlier.
But Friday’s game was all about desire for the Live Oak boys, who must have had their pride injured a little by the consecutive losses. Even a fired-up Salinas team that was playing on its home floor with a shot at the Central Coast Section playoffs in its sights — and had lost by a single point in the first meeting between the two teams — couldn’t stop the wakened Acorns.
“I guess Wednesday night’s (loss to North Salinas) was a wake-up call for us,” Acorn coach Brett Paolucci said. “Going on the road to Salinas after losing two in a row — this was a really big win for us.”
Paolucci said the Acorns came out with its trademark defensive intensity on Friday — an intensity that had been woefully lacking recently — and corraled the Cowboys from the start.
“We were flying around the court, getting in the passing lanes,” Paolucci said. “We were pressuring the ball and causing havoc. That was the Live Oak of old. That’s how we have to play defense.”
Paolucci said the intensity started in practice the night before and accelerated into Friday’s game.
“We came back Thursday night and forgot about the North Salinas game,” Paolucci said. “We had our best practice of the year. I told the team if we’re going to win these last three (league) games and go into CCS with momentum, we’re going to have to work hard. We were prepared and ready to go (against Salinas).”
Live Oak held Salinas to just eight points in the first quarter and took a 30-19 lead into halftime, then played the Cowboys about even in the second half.
This time, there was no hint of the Cowboy rally in the first game that saw Salinas come back from a huge deficit to give itself a chance to win in the final seconds.
Paolucci said the Acorns got a boost from senior swingman Braden Goodere, who got hot and scored most of his 11 points during one first-half streatch.
Senior forward Steve Conner led the Acorns in scoring with 13 points, while senior guard Joel Wright added 11 points. A total of 11 players scored for Live Oak in the game.
This week, Live Oak caps its TCAL schedule by playing at Palma on Wednesday at 7 p.m. and at Gilroy on Friday at 7 p.m. First-place Hollister finishes its league schedule with games against Salinas and Palma.
In other TCAL action on Friday, Palma picked up its first league win of the year, beating Gilroy 47-42.
The CCS will hold its basketball seeding meeting on Sunday, Feb. 22 and first-round games will begin Tuesday, Feb. 24.
