Live Oak
’s third league loss all but eliminates T-CAL title
Live Oak is a marked team, and everyone in the Central Coast section wants a piece.
The Acorns, who were favored to win the Tri-County Athletic League, lost their third game of league (but only their fifth out of 23 games overall) Wednesday night at North Salinas.
In the last matchup of the teams, Live Oak won by 38 points, but it was not to be at North Salinas.
“We made a little run late in the game, but we just had too many breakdowns on defense,” said Live Oak coach Brett Paolucci. “They had a lot of offensive rebounds. We just lost our focus.”
Paolucci warned his team before the game that the Vikings would come out firing.
“They are a game behind us and are right there on the verge of making the playoff,” Paolucci said. “We talked about that before the game. They have nothing to lose. We’re a team right now that has a target on its back. Everybody wants to beat us.”
North Salinas was 11-for-22 from the free throw line, while Live Oak was just 2-for-4.
“We in no way can blame it on the refs,” Paolucci said. “We were playing lazy defense, reaching and drawing the fouls. They were being aggressive on offense and we were not. We just could never get it going. They’re athletism got the best of us.”
Live Oak had trouble both getting the ball to the post and then scoring once they did. Drew Pearson had seven points, but Maciek Bratkowski was held scoreless.
“I don’t think we did a good enough job looking down to the post, and they weren’t doing a good enough job sealing it off,” Paolucci said. “A couple times, we got it down there, it was automatic turnovers.”
Miles Curley led the Acorns with 15 points including three treys. Live Oak had seven three-pointers in the game. Steve Conner had eight points, Joel Wright had seven points. Scott Moquin had six, and Cutherbert Wong dumped in four.
For Salinas, Eric Petty had a game-high of 17 points and Ronnie Drummer added 11.
Live Oak will play a rematch with Salinas on Friday at Live Oak. Last time the teams collided, Live Oak lost 62-46 – by far the most lopsided loss of the season.
Live Oak had only Thursday to prepare for Salinas this week. But the Acorns are a perfect 5-0 at home this season, so the game should be a lot closer than last time.
“The only thing we can hope is they come in a little cocky,” Paolucci said. “We just have to raise our level of play. We can’t come out and win the game in the first half like we have done the last three games (before North Salinas). We haven’t played a full game of basketball for a long time.”
Drew Sanchez went crazy with 27 points in the last meeting. Sanchez has been a nightmare for coaches around the league to try to stop this year.
“They give an on-ball screen once they cross the ball over the half-court,” Paolucci said. “Everyone is so concerned about stopping him. It becomes a free-for-all. They do the pick and rolls and the screens. He can kick the ball out and finish. He’s human, and he can be stopped. But we have to put forth a great defensive effort.”
