Live Oak came close to knocking off the undefeated Tri-County
Athletic League front runner, but fell just one point short in a
64-63 home loss Friday night.
Live Oak came close to knocking off the undefeated Tri-County Athletic League front runner, but fell just one point short in a 64-63 home loss Friday night.
The Acorns saw an early lead vanish as they tried to sway the momentum. With 2:50 left in the game, Miles Curley drained a three pointer to give the Acorns a 49-45 advantage. It was the team’s third of the quarter.
Drew Sanchez, who is automatic from the charity stripe, sunk a pair of free throws 25 seconds later after Salinas had scored a quick basket to tie the game.
Joel Wright’s trey put the Acorns back up by three with a 1:50 left. Chris Choate launched a long two-point shot, and the Cowboys were up 53-52 with 1:10 left.
Live Oak took the lead with 35 seconds to go. But after Sanchez hit both his free throws, the Acorns were forced to call a timeout with 26 seconds left and down 55-54.
David Chappell was able to draw the foul with 3.2 seconds to go. He bounced his first off the rim and in, but missed his second. Salinas had to try for an immediate three from all the way on the other side the court.
In overtime, the Acorns had a chance to pull ahead with under a minute left, down just 62-61. Live Oak let the clock run down before settling for an outside three-pointer attempt. But Casey Neligh came up with an easy breakaway layin to put Live Oak down by three with 26 seconds to go.
Curley did get a good look at a three-pointer with eight seconds to go, but it bounced off the rim. Pearson tipped it back in at the buzzer, but it was not enough.
“We learned a lot from this game,” said Live Oak coach Brett Paolucci. “I am totally proud of how they played and couldn’t ask for anything better. Against a team like that, you got to take care of the ball, and you can’t make any mistakes because they will take advantage of it.”
The Acorns held Sanchez, who averages 23.7 points per game, to only 14 points. Sanchez is not only the point leader in the TCAL, but he also has scored more than any one in the Monterey Bay, Santa Cruz and Mission Trail leagues as well.
“He does little things here and there – dishing off and creating,” Paolucci said. “But we did our job if we held him to 14 points.”
Jeff Yeung got the start and made the most of it with a pair of baskets and a solid defensive effort. Yeung was able frustrate Sanchez and force him into throwing a couple elbows.
“He has been our best defensive player consistently in practice each day,” Paolucci said. “He gets after it. We needed someone to bug Drew Sanchez, and Jeff did a wonderful job. He did good on the offensive end too. He hasn’t played too much this year as a backup to Joel (Wright). We asked him to step up and play a position he is not used to. That has got to be a great confidence builder for him and for our team.”
Pearson, who also got the starting nod in the lineup, had a strong game in the post.
“We just want to give teams different looks,” Paolucci said. “Drew is becoming more of a threat for us down low. He has been attacking the basket well. We can go with either guy. Both play about the same time.”
Scott Moquin kept the Acorns in the game with his hustle and intensity. He scored 11 points and was a big part of Live Oak’s post game.
“There was a stretch there we made a little run on them dumping the ball to Moquin,” Paolucci said. “We were a lot more physical on the offensive boards.”
Last time the two teams met, Live Oak suffered a 62-46 loss – the worst loss of the year.
“We kind of caught them off guard last time,” said Joe Chappell, who has coached 32 years at Salinas High. “They were really well prepared tonight. They used what they had and almost beat us.”
“It was a whole different team coming out tonight,” Paolucci added.
Live Oak started the first quarter by out scoring Salinas 13-6.
“They were putting the ball down on the floor, and we weren’t getting down the court,” Chappell said. “They played smart and tried to use their size, while we tried to use our quickness. We tried to get some good shots so we could get into our full court press to create a little more scrambling.”
For the most part Live Oak was able to break the press. But it did start to take come into play in the second quarter as Live Oak was outscored 20-15.
“What we really stressed tonight is defense,” Paolucci said. “The offense is going take care of its self. We were more aggressive in the transition game pushing the ball up. We knew they were going to press. That bothered us, and we made some key turnovers in the second quarter. They went to the 2-3 which kind of slowed us down. But we stayed in the game and crashed the boards.”
The win gives the Cowboys at least a tie for the league title.
“I think all three of us, (Live Oak, Hollister and Salinas) have a chance to go far in CCS and win two or three games,” coach Chappell said.
Live Oak has had the tendency to start strong, but tire out in the second half. But that was not the case against Salinas.
“That was a complete game tonight,” Paolucci said. “It was a playoff atmosphere.It is nice to have a game like that so we realize what it is going to take to win some games in CCS.”
Live Oak will play at Palma on Wednesday night, and Gilroy will visit in the last game of the regular season Friday night during homecoming.
“We still have two really tough games left,” Paolucci said. “Now we are playing for a high seed. We want a home game. Palma is playing a lot better right now, and with Gilroy it doesn’t matter what the records are. We still have a long ways to go. I think we can build off this.”
JV result: Live Oak almost pulled off a come-back win after being down 18 points at the half. The Acorns were up 57-55 with two minutes to go. Salinas made two or four free throws to tie it. Live Oak had a chance with under 20 seconds left to extend the lead or run out the clock.
The Acorns got the offensive board and went to put it immediately back up. The miss gave the Cowboys the ball back with 14 seconds left, and they promptly sank a three-pointer to go up one.
Doug Porras, who had 11 points, was fouled with 4.2 seconds left as he attempted to go around a defender. His shot was off and so were the chances to tap it in. Jeff Renzuli led the Acorns with 18 points. Lee Bell had 12, and Brandon Powell had nine.
Salinas 6 20 13 16 9 — 64
Live Oak 13 15 13 14 8 — 63
Salinas (20-4, 8-0): Choate 3 1-2 8, Incaviglia 2 0-0 4, Neligh 6 2-4 16, Sanchez 3 8-8 14, Taylor 0 3-4 3, Smith 8 3-7 19. Totals 22 17-27 64.
Live Oak (18-6, 4-4): Mayor 1 0-0 2, Yeung 2 0-0 4, Wright 4 5-6 16, Wong 1 0-0 2, Curley 5 2-4 14, Chappell 0 1-2 1, Moquin 4 3-6 11, Pearson 3 1-2 7, Conner 1 0-1 2, Bratkowski 2 0-0 4. Totals 13 12-21 63.
Three-point goals: LO – Wright 3, Curley 2. S-Choate 1, Neligh 2.
