Live Oak defeated Palma 53-49 Wednesday night in Salinas to
guarantee at least a third-place finish in the Tri-County Athletic
League.
Live Oak defeated Palma 53-49 Wednesday night in Salinas to guarantee at least a third-place finish in the Tri-County Athletic League.
If Hollister loses to Palma on Friday, and Live Oak defeats Gilroy, the Balers and Acorns will finish tied for second place. Live Oak will be honoring its eight seniors on the team before it goes for its 20th win of the season tonight against Gilroy at 7 p.m.
“We will be ready to go and take what they bring,” said Live Oak coach Brett Paolucci. “They’re coming off a win so it will be a lot tougher than last time.”
Gilroy beat North Salinas 70-55, and Salinas defeated Hollister 54-47 Wednesday to clinch the T-CAL title.
Live Oak was up by eight points at the end of the third quarter, but Palma cut the deficit to one point.
“We were able to penetrate their defense and dish the ball off,” Paolucci said. “We put in some key free throws.”
Bert Wong was able to penetrate and dished off to Drew Pearson, who had 14 points. Steve Conner, who scored 12 points, had a couple key offensive putbacks.
“Palma had some good outside shooters,” Paolucci said. “It was really an emotional back and forth game with their homecoming night.”
Live Oak 17 10 12 14 – 53
Palma 12 12 7 18 – 49
Live Oak (19-6, 5-4): Wright 3 0-0 7, Wong 1 2-2 4, Curley 4 2-2 11, Moquin 2 0-1 5, Pearson 6 2-2 14, Connor 5 2-2 12. Totals 21 8-11 53.
Palma(11-11, 3-6): Cava 1 1-2 3, Hazdovac 2 2-2 7, Griffin 8 2-2 20, Walker 1 0-0 2, Soto 1 7-10 9, Marquez 2 2-2 6, Malvini 1 0-2 2. Totals 15 14-20 49.
Three-point goals: Live Oak – Wright, Curley, Moquin. Palma – Griffin (2), Hazdovac.
Girls basketball
Live Oak faced a tough task in Tri-County Athletic League Champion Notre Dame on Tuesday and lost 61-22.
Notre Dame, who won the Monterey Bay League title last year, jumped out to an 18-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. But Live Oak (0-9) closed the gap at half to 34-11.
Nine players were involved in the scoring for Notre Dame (9-0). Jessica Ross led the way with 12 points. Adrienne Terry and Leanne Lopez had six points for the Acorns. Melssa Llanes and Elana Guavara had four points, and Dana Clina had two points.
Live Oak finished up its season Thursday night at Gilroy.
