Bulldogs fall to Alisal and Mountain View, beat host Santa Clara
in Tip-Off Classic
San Jose – Sobrato’s boys basketball team began its season by going 1-2 last week in the Santa Clara Tip-Off Classic, falling to Mountain View and Alisal and defeating host Santa Clara.
In the first game of the tournament against Alisal, the Bulldogs initially held a slim 12-11 first-quarter lead. But the Trojans held Sobrato to nine second-quarter points on their way to taking the game 52-43.
Sobrato rebounded two days later against Santa Clara, taking a 30-13 halftime lead – yielding 10 of the points in the second quarter – and held on to win 58-32.
Bulldog coach Lawrence Crawford said the difference between the two games was how his team was able to spread the ball and scoring around.
“We just had better control by more players,” Crawford said. “We had eight players who scored in the Santa Clara game. In the first game, we had five score with two only scoring two points.”
Against Alisal, senior guard Marqus Crawford led the Bulldogs with 21 points, 10 of which came from the free-throw line. He was followed by senior guard Mubarik Abdullahi with 13 points.
They were the only Bulldogs to break double digits in the game.
In the win over Santa Clara, Crawford again led the team in scoring with 19 and was followed by Abdullahi with 12.
When Sobrato returned to the court Saturday to take on Mountain View, the Bulldogs needed to make up a 16-point deficit at the end of the third quarter.
Despite a 29-point fourth, the Spartan lead was too much to overcome and Sobrato fell 72-67.
“I think that the game against Mountain View was a good thing for us and will make us better,” said Lawrence Crawford. “We were down by a lot, but they didn’t give up.”
After the Spartans increased their lead to 21 points, Sobrato began its run. With about a minute left to play, the Bulldogs pulled within four points before turnovers ruined a chance at a comeback.
Crawford said he was proud if his team’s efforts but said needing to make up so much ground that late in the game was a tough assignment.
“We just got down by so many points,” Crawford said. “We just got short on time.”
Along with his two points leaders, Crawford said he was pleased with the effort by Mark Garma.
“Mark Garma rebounded particularly well,” Crawford said of his 6-foot-1, 160-pound guard. “It’s tough to rebound at that size because of a lack of girth. But he does it well.”
Garma finished the tournament averaging 5.7 rebounds in the three games, including collecting a team-leading eight boards against Mountain View. He is tied with junior Devin Heppler with 17 rebounds so far this season.
The Bulldogs will return to the court Wednesday night in Hayward to take on Mt. Eden, which beat both Mountain View and Alisal in the tournament.
