A learning experience for SV in McMillan tourney

St.|

St. Vincent got in a big dose of basketball activity in a short period of time by playing three games in less than 24 hours in the annual McMillan Tournament at Cloverdale over the weekend.

The Mustangs dropped a 47-40 decision to Balboa of San Francisco in the Friday night opener and came back to play two games on Saturday afternoon to round out the tournament. Cloverdale had to postpone the normal Thursday night round of games because of the two-day rain storm that forced the closing of many schools in the Bay Area.

“We played well enough to win the Balboa game,” said St. Vincent assistant coach Dennis Traverso. “We had the lead most of the way, but missed a lot of shots from close range in the last minutes of the game.” Balboa outscored the Mustangs 17-5 in the final stanza.

Grant DeVoe rimmed 12 points to pace St. Vincent. Senior point guard Aaron Sihota added seven points.

The Mustangs went quickly back to the hardwoods on Saturday morning, and again won the early battle by taking a two-point advantage over Clear Lake at halftime, 27-25.

Coach Lance Phillips got the most from eight players by rotating everyone for equal time, but scoring threat Liam Galten could not avoid his third personal foul and played limited minutes.

Six players scored in the first two periods, led by guard Reilly Tobin, who kept the Mustangs in the game by scoring eight points from the perimeter.

In the second half, Clear Lake made some changes in a full-court pressure defense and St. Vincent began to turn the ball over with regularity. With the mistakes went the lead in the final stanza.

Eight turnovers in the final period turned into a nightmare for St. Vincent, as the Mustangs were outscored 20-10, and they fell to the Cardinals, 66-58.

Passes across the floor in the back court led to thefts and easy baskets for Clear Lake as guard Jose Lopez scored 18 of his game high 20 points. Eight points came from the charity stripe.

St. Vincent got balanced scoring, led by Tobin who finished with a team-leading 17 points. Will Tarrant came off the bench to do a solid job on the glass, and knocked in eight points around the painted area. Galten, hampered by fouls for the entire game, managed seven.

With a little over four minutes remaining, St. Vincent got a huge lift from guard Nick Vollert, who tracked down a missed shot in the corner and nailed a 3-pointer to tie the game at 54-54.

From that point, it was all Clear Lake.

A patient Phillips recognized that his team made too many mistakes in the late going to hang on to the lead. “Most of those cross court passes might have worked on the junior varsity last season, but these teams at this level are too quick,” he said. “We are going to get much better. I am optimistic about this team’s chances to bounce back this season.”

In the second game of the Saturday doubleheader, the Mustangs dropped a close 54-51 decision to St. Helena in a battle for seventh place in the tournament.

DeVoe rimmed 10 points to again pace the St. Vincent offense. The Mustangs (1-4) will host Urban of San Francisco on Friday.

Home win

Coming off the tournament, St. Vincent won at home Monday night, defeating Averroes of Fremont, 50-20.

The Mustangs led 25-18 at half and finished off their visitors by outscoring them 10-1 in the fourth quarter.

Devoe led the Mustangs with 11 points, with Aaron Shota and Colton adding eight apiece.

UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy:
  • This is a family newspaper, please use a kind and respectful tone.
  • No profanity, hate speech or personal attacks. No off-topic remarks.
  • No disinformation about current events.
  • We will remove any comments — or commenters — that do not follow this commenting policy.