If any team could knock off Andrew Hill and bring madness to the
final day of West Valley Division play, surely it was Live Oak, and
surely it was now. The timing and setting were perfect Wednesday,
with the Acorns riding an emotion-filled four-game win streak, and
a packed crowd buzzing on Senior Night at LOHS in anticipation of
their first CCS berth since 2006. Instead of celebrating, the
Acorns began sweating it out after a 56-52 loss.
If any team could knock off Andrew Hill and bring madness to the final day of West Valley Division play, surely it was Live Oak, surely it was now.
The timing and setting were perfect Wednesday, with the Acorns riding an emotion-filled four-game win streak, and a packed crowd buzzing on Senior Night at Live Oak High School in anticipation of their first playoff berth since 2006.
Instead of celebrating, the Acorns began sweating it out after a 56-52 loss.
Their big shots stopped falling. Their inside pressure and tough rebounding faded, and the Acorns cooled off in the shadow of a taller, physical Andrew Hill squad.
“We felt really good coming into this game after beating (then-first place) Lincoln on Saturday,” said shooting guard Nathaniel Batey, one of five LOHS seniors honored before the game. “We felt like we had a good chance of pulling this one off, too. It just didn’t work out that way.”
The Acorns kept pace through an exciting first three quarters, building leads of 25-18 and 31-27, but could not hold off Richard Meek and the Falcons, who swept the season series and clinched a share of their fifth league championship in program history.
“I thought (Live Oak) gave a great effort tonight. We just have a few bigger kids that don’t wanna lose,” said Andrew Hill coach Ben Herning, whose team has overcome many adversities off the court this winter. “We’ve had one kid’s house burn down, another’s dad died on the way to a game. It’s been a very tough year, but it’s brought the kids together.”
Next week the Falcons (16-7, 11-2) will play in the Blossom Valley Athletic League Tournament, while the Acorns practice in hopes their name gets called at the Feb. 19 Central Coast Section playoff meeting.
Live Oak (11-12, 8-5), now tied for fourth with Mount Pleasant, first has to take care of business Friday at hapless Del Mar.
“We still feel great about where we are,” Acorns 6-foot, 3-inch center Eddie Plascencia said. “We’re doing a lot better than last season, and we feel like we have a really good chance of making the playoffs if we get this next win.
“We just can’t underestimate them. They can beat us on any day.”
Plascencia and the Acorns played with that same conscious effort Wednesday, challenging Andrew Hill with tough defense and good shooting all around. They could keep it up only for so long, as the Falcons pulled away on a 15-5 scoring run to the end the third quarter. That came with a bevy of put-backs, layups, free throws and offensive rebounds.
“It was tough inside. They had a lot of size on us,” said Plascencia, who had 13 points and seven rebounds. “We had to play smart, and they just beat us.”
Live Oak was coming off a thrilling 46-43 upset of Lincoln, which beat Andrew Hill twice this season. The Acorns didn’t match up nearly as well against the Falcons, whose starters’ height ranged from 6 feet to 6 feet 4.
Meek was held in check with three fouls in the first half, but the senior guard exploded for 10 of his 12 points on 6-of-11 shooting in the second. Senior forward John Norita paced the Falcons with 15 points, seven rebounds and two blocks, and Joseph Foster contributed 11 points at center.
Point guard Jalen Blue collected eight rebounds, seven assists and four points for Andrew Hill.
“They’re explosive, and they’re athletic,” Acorns coach Brett Paolucci said flatly. “I feel like we could have done a better job of boxing out and making contact, but I’m really happy with how we played. We were competitive the whole time.
“That’s one thing about this team; we keep our composure pretty well when we’re dealing with a lot of adversity.”
Live Oak pressured the Falcons into 10 turnovers in the first half and a pedestrian 9-for-25 effort from the field. Andrew Hill still led 10-0 after three minutes, but the Acorns answered with two 3-pointers by Batey, a cross-court drive by Jakob Conlan, and two big layups in traffic by Plascencia, cutting the deficit to 16-14 by the end of the first quarter.
“The team stayed with it, didn’t give up. This group, these seniors have that fighter mentality,” Paolucci said.
Live Oak scored 11 of the first 13 points to start the second quarter, including a three-point play by Plascencia and back-to-back treys by Laguna, part of his team-high 14 points.
The Acorns had momentum and a 25-21 lead at the break, but the second half belonged to the Falcons, who took away Live Oak’s outside shot and began forcing the ball inside. Andrew Hill held its biggest lead, 54-42, with 2:19 left to play before the Acorns went on a 10-2 run to end it.
“It was a tough loss, but we played our hearts out, and we tried out best,” Batey said. “Coach was really proud. It took a while for us to start playing like this, but we’ve made it a great season.”
A class act
From the start of summer workouts, Paolucci knew this season was going to be special because of seniors Austin Carvalho, Danny Galli, Plascencia, Batey and Conlan.
“Their leadership has been huge,” Paolucci said. “There’s a lot of camaraderie in this group. That’s something that’s kept us going, something that’s been key during this stretch.”
The Acorns last four-game winning streak was in 2004.
“They’ve accomplished a lot this season,” Paolucci went on. “Hopefully we can accomplish more and hopefully get these seniors a berth in CCS.”
