47-45 loss to San Jose drops Acorns to 0-4 in league road games
on the same night Sobrato wins 61-34 at Overfelt
SAN JOSE — The stage is set for this season’s biggest Santa Teresa Division boys basketball game to take place Friday in the Sobrato Main Gym.
That’s not really saying much, but there it is.
For the second year in a row, the Bulldogs are hosting Independence in a late-season matchup with first place on the line. Last winter, the two teams played an epic winner-take-all slugfest that the 76ers won 55-48 to end the regular season.
Though Friday’s 7 p.m. edition lacks the same hype — Sobrato beat Independence 60-49 in their previous meeting, Jan. 13 — the stakes are the same.
This time, the 76ers can move into a tie for first place with four winnable games remaining. At 11-8 overall and 8-1 in division play, Independence poses the biggest threat standing between the Bulldogs (14-5, 9-0) and an outright league championship.
Sobrato, which has outscored Santa Teresa foes by an average of 24 points, could have put up a goose egg for most of the second half and still beaten Overfelt on Wednesday. Bryan Bradley netted a dozen points, Pierre Hemphill added 11, and the Bulldogs earned their 10th straight win by 61-34 score in San Jose.
Sobrato is one victory shy of matching its longest win streak, set in 2006-07 when the team won its only title.
San Jose 47, Live Oak 45
Road woes have pushed Live Oak to the brink with five games left before the Central Coast Section playoff meeting.
The Acorns are 7-12 overall and 4-5 in the West Valley Division, and they need to win now. They moved to 0-4 in road league contests Wednesday against San Jose, as the Bulldogs eeked out their second win in 12 games.
Trailing 29-21 at halftime, Live Oak pulled within one after three quarters. San Jose (6-12, 3-6) prevailed behind Ben Baclig’s 19 points and James Duran’s 15. Duran made four shots from beyond the arc.
Acorns guard Michael Schreiber also sank four 3-pointers on the way to scoring 19, his best output since Dec. 11. Nathan Seifert had 11 points, and Matt Levy 10 for Live Oak, which hosts Branham at 7 p.m. Friday.
Acorns coach Brett Paolucci has said a .500 league mark should be enough to get his team into the Division III tournament.
