While the Mount Pleasant Cardinals blanketed Ryan Williams,
Chris Bradley snuck off and had a career night
MORGAN HILL — One lopsided victory at a time, the Sobrato boy’s basketball team is putting together and impressive resume this season.
Is it too early to pencil in a CIF-Central Coast Section playoff berth? Technically, yes. But the Bulldogs certainly looked postseason bound Tuesday while dismantling Mount Pleasant 69-34 in Sobrato Gym behind Chris Bradley’s season-high 23 points.
Ryan Williams added 15 points and three shot-blocks for the Bulldogs, who have won seven of their last eight, improving to 13-2 overall and 3-0 in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League. Their three division wins have come by an average of 20 points.
“Coach doesn’t like us looking ahead, but he really has us set on CCS,” said Bradley, who made 9 of 15 from the field and 4 of 6 from 3-point range. “We’re just preparing for that.”
In doing so, Sobrato is humbly treating each game the same.
“Not to downplay anybody, but we’re really building toward the end of the season,” coach Lawrence Crawford said. “Part of how we keep them focused is by letting them know we’re not as good as we think we are.”
Crawford has limited investment in rankings, but does pay attention to Maxpreps, which pegged the Bulldogs No. 37 in the section after Tuesday’s victory.
“If those rankings are anywhere near true, we’ve got a lot to do,” Crawford said.
Sobrato will face three opponents with sub-.500 league records next, starting Friday at Evergreen Valley, before a Jan. 27 showdown at Independence (13-3, 3-0) — ranked No. 12 in the section by Maxpreps.
“We’re taking every game one step at a time,” Bulldogs wing Kenneth Mounteer said. “We know no matter what team we’re playing with we need to come out with the same intensity. That’s where we’re expected to play: like every game is our last game.”
Sobrato stayed true to that in trouncing defending Santa Teresa champion Silver Creek and Del Mar to open the regular season.
On Tuesday, the Bulldogs didn’t leave any room for upset against the struggling Cardinals (2-10, 1-2). Leading 11-5 with 3:36 left in the first quarter, Sobrato went on a 15-0 scoring run that extended into the second. Mount Pleasant was held scoreless for more than nine minutes during that stretch as the Bulldogs built a 34-13 halftime lead.
“We had played them in a tournament this year,” Mounteer said. “We knew we had to come out pretty strong. Their record isn’t good, but we had to take care of them; start strong and keep our momentum going.”
Brian Kwan had 10 points to lead Mount Pleasant, and Kevin Ibana collected nine points and six rebounds.
Capitalizing on several wide-open looks, Bradley had a double-double by the first minute of the third quarter. The junior guard pulled down 13 rebounds and dished three assists.
“We had a lot of guys dribble-penetrating and that opened some shots for me,” Bradley said. “They collapsed on (Williams) every time he went. That set me up.”
Sobrato shot 46 percent from the field and pressured the Cardinals into 23 turnovers. Bulldogs point guard Rauley Cambra had six steals to go with seven points.
“Rauley played a very good game,” Crawford said. “Chris executed well, too. The shots he took weren’t really contested … which means he’s making good cuts. He’s keeping the floor balanced and he’s staying in spots he should be. The guys looked for him tonight. They understood he had his stroke.”
Williams, the team’s leader in points this year, made his mark the hard way. The 6-foot-3 junior forward broke through for six points — all in traffic — during the third quarter, and Sobrato pushed its lead to 50-23 heading into the fourth.
“Ryan Williams, he does everything,” Crawford said. “He’s going to defend and do all the dirty stuff.”
Bradley made a big finale in the fourth quarter with 11 points on 4-for-4 shooting. He buried three treys; the last one ending the scoring with 1:26 remaining.
