Head Royce presses Mustangs out of NCS

Head Royce pressed its way to a comfortable early lead, and the Jayhawks defeated visiting St.|

Head Royce pressed its way to a comfortable early lead, and the Jayhawks defeated visiting St. Vincent, 54-35, in a first-round North Coast Section Division 5 playoff game in Oakland last week.

“We played them in a scrimmage at the beginning of the season, and they press from start to finish,” noted Mustang coach Lance Phillips before the game began at Chapman Pavilion.

Press they did.

The Hawks alternated looks and the depth of the press from the outset, and it bothered St. Vincent. The Mustangs fell behind, 12-0, before senior shooting guard Grant DeVoe netted a long 3-point shot late in the first quarter. By the time the period ended it was 14-3.

Spearheading the assault was Head Royce forward Chris Wright, who scored 11 points in the first eight minutes of play. The opportunistic Wright added to the St. Vincent woes in the early going by picking off three loose balls, which he quickly turned into Head Royce baskets.

The hot Jayhawks (19-7) came into the game riding a six-game win streak after capturing the Bay Counties East League Tournament the previous week.

St. Vincent finally settled in to some stellar outside shooting by DeVoe. He found the range from well behind the arc as he scored nine points in the second stanza, and the Mustangs pulled within four points at halftime, 22-18.

A loose-ball pick and a basket by DeVoe in the final seconds gave the momentum back to the Mustangs.

The outcome of the game was decided in the opening minutes of the third period, when Head Royce made some simple adjustments to its press and ran off eight quick points to pull away again.

Shots from distance by Michael Awad and Nick Vollert kept St. Vincent within rallying distance, but the Mustangs never got closer than seven points in the final minutes. Adding to the St. Vincent problems was that it got virtually no offense from the inside with only four points in the paint all night.

Head Royce scored the final 10 points in garbage time to make the final count appear more lopsided than the actual game.

Wright led all scorers with 25 points with strong fourth-quarter support from guard Reid Gibbs, who netted eight points in less than five minutes.

DeVoe closed with a strong 16-point outing in addition to three steals on the perimeter of the defense for the Mustangs. Point guard Aaron Sihota penetrated the Hawk defense well in the front court, but St. Vincent struggled putting the ball in play after baskets at their end of the court. They were charged with 10-second violations on two occasions.

“At the beginning of the game, we played like we had never been there before,” Phillips said .

The Mustangs have every reason to look forward to next season, with seven of nine players returning. Adding to their arsenal is a talented group of junior varsity players who captured the North Central League II title this season.

“I can’t wait to get started with some of those young kids in summer league,” Phillips noted.

The Mustangs finished 16-12 for the season and second in the NCL II.

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