With its first championship under new coach Vince Pacheco —
plus its first win streak in almost three years — secured, the
Live Oak boy’s basketball team will open league play next week on a
modestly high note
MORGAN HILL — With its first championship under new coach Vince Pacheco — plus its first win streak in almost three years — secured, the Live Oak boy’s basketball team will open league play next week on a modestly high note.
The Acorns, who had not won consecutive games since Feb. 2006, wrapped up a 4-7 nonleague slate with a 53-47 upset victory over Mesa Verde on Tuesday in a thrilling consolation finals of the Bulldog Chase tournament at Sobrato High School.
Live Oak drubbed Anzar 59-30 a day earlier.
“I’m still excited for that win,” Pacheco said during a telephone interview Friday. “It’s not so much for me as it is for the kids. It’s the experience of winning and changing the mindset to win something in basketball. I think that’s the biggest hurdle.
“We’re a decent basketball team. Once we produce wins, the mentality will change.”
That could already be happening. Following a 1-5 start, the Acorns have won three of their last five contests, with losses to rival Sobrato — a BVAL ‘B’ Division team — and 12-1 Alvarez.
“The attitude has been the biggest change,” said Pacheco, whose squad eclipsed 50 points in each of its wins. “I think the approach is different. We’re more hungry. We’re not taking losses as an excuse. The guys understand that winning takes work.”
Live Oak played with one of its most inspired efforts of the season Tuesday, shaking off a cold first quarter of shooting to net 17 points in the second period. The Acorns trailed 21-20 at halftime, but outscored the Mavericks 33-26 in the final 20 minutes.
Mesa Verde (7-7 overall), of the Pioneer Valley Athletic League, led 11-3 after the first quarter.
“Our intensity was up,” Pacheco said. “We were more in attack mode instead of seeing what they’re going to do. We must have had 25 transitional points where defense became offense. Guys were stepping up.”
Michael Schreiber, Live Oak’s all-tournament point guard, finished with a season-high 19 points, and David Beckum collected a double-double with 10 points and a dozen rebounds. Dominic Leach had seven points and five assists, and Gabriel Mancias added a team-high five steals, three rebounds and two assists for the Acorns.
“David Beckum was outstanding defensively,” Pacheco said. “He would have had even more points if he hadn’t missed four or five (easy shots).
Gabriel Mancias, he came up big, too.”
Pacheco expects his team to maintain focus Tuesday, when the Acorns begin quest for the program’s first league championship in 20 seasons. They will host Branham in their Blossom Valley Athletic League-‘C’ Division opener at 7 p.m.
“Branham has some good players,” Pacheco said. “But they have a lot of weaknesses. I like our chances based on our defense. We’ve just got to maintain what we’re doing. I’m confident we will.”
