With a 55-44 loss to Willow Glen on Tuesday, Sobrato dropped
into a three-way tie for first place in the Santa Teresa
Division
MORGAN HILL — Whatever fire Sobrato had during its four-game winning streak to open league play; whatever momentum it fashioned in those lopsided victories, surging Willow Glen stole it Tuesday.
The exchange was made with an icy handshake that perpetuated an unusually cold night of shooting for the Bulldogs. They were 14 for 50 (28 percent) from the field, including a 1-for-9 effort in the second quarter and a 3-for-16 attempt in the fourth. They made 7 of 26 from 3-point range.
“They just weren’t falling,” said Sobrato forward Wes Flippo, who was making his first start of the season. “We weren’t executing our plays well either. We’ve got a lot of work to do. Tonight, we were just off.”
The Rams were the opposite.
Muktar Abdi scored 16 points and grabbed four steals, Jimmy Renneke added 14 points and six rebounds, and Willow Glen forged a three-way tie for first place in the Blossom Valley Athletic League Santa Teresa Division with a 55-44 victory in Sobrato Gym.
Willow Glen, Sobrato and Independence are knotted at 4-1 in the division standings. The Bulldogs (14-3 overall) will travel to Independence on Jan. 27 after hosting Andrew Hill at 7:30 p.m. Friday. The Rams (9-7) upset Independence 57-56 last week.
“I told the guys how really big this win is, because this is a tough place to play; a tough gym with a tough feel,” Willow Glen coach Todd Meeker said. “We were lucky we came on Tuesday instead of Friday … After we beat Independence, I was afraid of a letdown. The guys really played well tonight.”
Using a zone defense for most of the night, the Rams stymied Sobrato’s big shooters while creating scoring opportunities in transition.
“We didn’t have much energy,” Sobrato coach Lawrence Crawford said. “If you noticed, this game was a half-court game. Basically, all of our offense was half court. We didn’t get very many transition baskets — that’s what we’re good at. On the other hand, they got quite a lot.
“Our shooting, we got looks all night. But we missed more inside than outside. How often does that happen?”
Chris Bradley finished with a dozen points and seven rebounds, and Ryan Williams netted 11 points for the Bulldogs, who led 17-11 at then end of the first quarter before fading in the second. Point guard Rauley Cambra added seven points.
Charley Bynum and Bryan Bradley, two of Sobrato’s more consistent offensive threats, were held scoreless.
“They’ve got some good shooters, and they weren’t in rhythm,” Meeker said. “The zone kind of slowed them down. I have no idea why. Our guys closed it out and did a pretty good job. Also, for whatever reason, they didn’t shoot the ball well against us — thank goodness.”
Willow Glen scored nine consecutive points to take an 18-17 lead and went ahead for good when Abdi buried two straight 3-pointers to end the second quarter. The Rams led 26-21 at the break.
“Usually, if we’re down at half or close at half, coach usually gives a talking to spark us up and we get back into it in the third quarter — that’s when we take the lead,” said Bulldogs forward Howard Kwong, who came off the bench to score six points, matching teammate Scott Taylor. “That didn’t happen for us tonight. I guess they wanted it more.”
Abdi, who made 6 of 11 from the field, capped a 6-0 scoring run with a finger roll, pushing the deficit to 32-23. Sobrato scored 11 of the next 18 points to pull within five at 39-34 with 7:31 remaining. Chris Bradley and Williams cut the deficit to four with back-to-back baskets, but the Rams sprinted away with a deep trey by Renneke and a layup by Peter Rodriguez off a high-low feed.
Nedium Mekanic’s pull-up jumper with 4:24 left gave Willow Glen its biggest lead at 50-38.
“We had no urgency,” Crawford said. “We could have made more shots tonight, but that’s nothing if you don’t execute on defense and play well on offense.”
Sobrato had won nine of its last 10 and was coming off one of its biggest wins this season. The Bulldogs beat Evergreen Valley 71-59 Friday in a game that featured a school-record 38 points by Williams.
“We’re pretty bummed right now,” Flippo said. “This was a big game, and we needed to step up. I think this is going to put us back into it; get us fired up for the next game. You could call this a reality check. We know we need to work harder and get it going again.”
