Acorns post 78-58 win over North County, but fall to Gilroy,
Santa Teresa
GILROY — A 20-point triumph over North Monterey County highlighted the Live Oak boys varsity basketball team’s weekend at the 30th annual Bob Hagen Memorial Tournament, hosted by Gilroy High School.
The Acorns’ 78-58 victory over the Condors on Friday night followed a difficult 68-40 loss against Gilroy on Thursday in the opening round. The Acorns wrapped up the three-day tournament with 80-45 defeat to Santa Teresa — the final score not indicative of the entire game as the Acorns were within six points of the Saints at halftime.
The Acorns struggled against the Mustangs’ pesky press defense Thursday night, but were able to make adjustments heading into their encounter with the Condors in Game 2, which paid dividends for head coach Brett Paolucci’s bunch.
“We were able to get a lot of points after breaking their press,” Paolucci said. “We were more patient than we were Thursday night. We were more composed.”
The Acorns led throughout the game and built on a 40-27 halftime advantage to close out the contest.
Senior guard Nathan Seifert delivered four 3-pointers en route to a 20-point performance in the win. Seifert averaged 15.6 points per game over the three-game span, Paolucci said.
“He had a tremendous tournament for us,” Paolucci said. “He was everything for us — scoring, playing defense and running our offense. After the game I asked him how he was feeling and he said, ‘I’m sore.’ He’s not afraid to take the ball inside. He’s a gutsy player and plays hard all the time.”
Dominic Leach and Cody Gallizioli also put up big numbers against the Condors, posting 18 and 15 points, respectively.
The Acorns stayed with the Saints up until midway through the third quarter before losing ground and eventually the game. Down only six points at the start of the third, the Acorns could only muster eight points in the deciding quarter and were outscored 41-12 in the second half.
“Before the game we talked about having confidence,” Paolucci said. “(Santa Teresa) is a very athletic team. We played great for two and a half quarters and then they got heated up and took it to us.”
Thursday night’s dual with Gilroy got off to a likable start for the Acorns, who trailed by one, 16-15, after the first quarter. However, the Acorns’ fortune quickly turned sour as the Mustangs intensified their full-court press defense and received a scoring spurt from Greg Hamik and Michael Aldridge to increase the small one-point lead to an insurmountable 15-point halftime advantage.
“They just started getting frustrated,” Paolucci said. “They tried to do things on their own instead of doing it the right way.”
Michael Schreiber contributed a team-high 10 points against the Mustangs. Seifert had nine and Leach threw down eight points.
The Acorns (3-4) have a small break before participating in the Bulldog Chase Tournament where they will face-off against host and crosstown rival Sobrato in the opening round next Monday.
