Luke Laguna had 17 points, Eddie Plascencia added 10 and 17
rebounds, and the Live Oak Acorns beat San Jose 55-29 Friday for
their first 2-0 start in league in almost a decade.
The Acorns were coming off a 61-58 thriller over Yerba Buena on
Thursday and hadn’t won consecutive games since 2010.
MORGAN HILL
The Live Oak Acorns made the most of what little time they had to prepare for Friday’s boys basketball game against San Jose.
They had beaten Yerba Buena, 61-58, in a thriller the night before and couldn’t practice as they normally do before their upcoming game. Coach Brett Paolucci needed only to write a few numbers on a greaseboard in their locker room though to get them ready – 12-15-10, the day Live Oak last won consecutive games.
“That was big tonight, to get to 2-0,” Paolucci said after the Acorns played inspiringly in dumping San Jose 55-29 to stay perfect through the first week of West Valley Division play. “That was important, getting both of these games. Last night was an absolute barn burner, and it was nice to come back tonight and get this one, start 2-0. I mean, it’s been a while.”
The Acorns probably won’t have to wait nearly as long for their next win streak if they keep playing like they did last week. Their posts put on a clinic Friday, outrebounding San Jose 46-31, while guards Jakob Conlan and Andrew Poonia carved up the lane and created open shots all night.
Sophomore Luke Laguna made three 3-pointers in a game-high 17 points for Live Oak (5-7, 2-0).
“That gives us an inside-out game,” Paolucci said. “I think we have really good guards and a good perimeter game.
“The guards understand that they’re other guys that can contribute to this team, and that basically won these two games for us; our post play was great.”
Paolucci gave credit to his bedrock bigs, Eddie Plascencia (who averaged 12.5 points and 11.5 rebounds last week) and Austin Carvalho (10 and 11), but also lauded his 6-foot, 3-inch sophomore, Kalum Bergstrom, who has filled in well for injured senior Danny Galli.
“Eddie and Austin came around nicely last week, and that’s tremendous, but out of all the posts, Kalum Bergstrom is really stepping up and has been a nice surprise,” Paolucci said. “He’s doing a great, great job getting rebounds, running the court, posting up. … All four of our posts have been working hard in practice this year.”
Plascencia gave Live Oak an early lift Friday with nine rebounds, two blocks and an assist in the first half. The 6-foot-3 senior finished with 10 points and 17 rebounds.
“He’s on a high right now,” said Carvalho, who had six and 10. “He’s one of those emotional players. Once he gets into it he lights a fire for the rest of the team.”
That his team won by 26 against struggling San Jose wasn’t as impressive to Paolucci as the way the Acorns handled themselves, never taking a play off or losing focus. They limited the Bulldogs to 17 percent shooting and led by as many as 28 late in the fourth quarter.
“This is a different team than in the past,” the 11th-year LOHS coach said. “They stay within the game plan. They run our stuff. They know what works, what doesn’t work.”
The Acorns approached Yerba Buena (3-9, 1-1) and San Jose (1-4, 0-2) the same way they will approach co-league front-runners Mount Pleasant and Lincoln this week. They visit them today and Saturday, respectively, sandwiched around another road game against win-hungry James Lick on Thursday.
“We’re underdogs all the way,” said Laguna (10.3 points a game), who transferred from Christopher this offseason. “We just go out. It doesn’t really matter who we play. Our confidence is up. We just want to take care of business.”
With determination Live Oak overcame a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter against Yerba Buena.
“I told them, ‘One play at a time we’re going to chip away at this lead,’” Paolucci said.
Junior guard Ardean Salvador, a first-year varsity player, sparked Live Oak’s offense with great dribble penetration and smart passing. The Acorns were able to slow Ricky Rivera (26 points) and put together a modest scoring run, capped by four free throws off a shooting foul and a costly technical foul that tied it at 56.
Live Oak pulled away with more clutch free throws and all but clinched it with an offensive rebound by Poonia off a miss with seconds remaining.
“We worked hard for what we got,” Carvalho said. “We just kept fighting.”
Laguna, although new to the program, understands the magnitude of Live Oak’s first 2-0 start to conference play in almost a decade.
“Definitely,” he said with a smile. “It feels pretty good being us right now.”
