St. Vincent pulled away to a 17-point advantage by halftime, and turned back cold-shooting Berean Christian of Walnut Creek, 50-21, in DeCarli Gym for its first basketball win of the season.
A packed in zone defense limited the visiting Eagles to only 4-for-25 shooting in the opening two periods, and St. Vincent coasted down the stretch, with coach Scott Himes clearing the bench early and often.
Berean Christian could not buy anything from the outside, and Mustang center Tyler Pease choked off all attempts at offense in the paint in the lopsided win.
Pease was the leading scorer for both teams with 11 points, all coming in the first half. Most of his effective work came inside the painted area on drop-step moves after feeds from his teammates.
The rangy junior did take an awkward fall at the beginning of the third period, and Himes kept him out of the game for the rest of the night for precautionary reasons. Pease appeared to be in good health at the end of the game as all 10 players saw considerable action.
St. Vincent got its best productive guard play this season with backcourt players Joe Sartori, John Romano, Vince Gawronski, Nate Berniklau and Ryan Nalducci all having their moments in moving the ball upcourt into team offensive sets.
Sartori scored in every stanza to finish in double figures with 10 points. Romano and Gawronski added six points each.
Constant mass substitutions kept Mustang assistant coach John Furrer actively rotating players in groups of three and four as St. Vincent kept building its advantage.
Starting forward Gio Antonini played a controlled game with five rebounds, three points and three assists. The muscular senior played a very focused game with accurate passing and consistent motion toward the basket.
Himes had reason to be upbeat with the play of his team as it improved to 1-2 for the season. “We should be close to full strength next week, and point guard Miguel Bunting will get out of his walking boot very soon,” Himes said. “I don’t think he will be available for the Petaluma game next Tuesday, however.”
St. Vincent will resume play on Thursday at the annual Redwood Classic Tournament in Boonville.
Berean Christian finally got untracked to outscore the hosts, 9-8, in the final quarter. Six-foot forward Connter Howard finished with eight points for the Eagles, now 0-3 for the season. Berean was not able to convert from long range in the contest. The Eagles were a frigid 0-9 from outside.
Berean Christian captured a very tight junior varsity contest, 38-34.
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