St. Paul boys basketball advances to CIF quarterfinals
St. Paul’s Dorian Tate (10) makes a three-point shot as they play Cathedral in their first round CIF boys basketball playoff game at St. Paul High School in Santa Fe Springs on Friday. (Photo by Keith Durflinger)
SANTA FE SPRINGS – For the second year in a row, the St. Paul Boys Basketball team has advanced to the CIF-Southern Section quarterfinals with a 66-60 win over the visiting Hillcrest Trojans Tuesday (Feb. 15).
With their 11th consecutive win, the Swordsmen upped their record to 21-9, while Hillcrest ends its season at 16-14.
St. Paul will travel to El Dorado (21-9), a 49-44 winner over Crescenta Valley, Friday (Feb. 18) for the chance to advance to the semifinals.
Leading the way for the Swordsmen was senior forward Danny Patton with 18 points, while senior forward Dorian Tate had 15.
Allen Moser scored 13 and Jordan Williams had nine points for St. Paul.
After a close first half, with the Swordsmen leading, 34-21, Hillcrest outscored St. Paul, 20-16, to lead by nine after three, 50-41.
The Trojans continued the pressure in the fourth quarter as they again outscored St. Paul, 19-16, but fell short in the game by six points.
Hillcrest was led by 6-6 forward Deshawn Gory with 18 points.
St. Paul’s Jordan Williams (5) slams dunks a ball against Cathedral in their first round CIF boys basketball playoff game at St. Paul High School in Santa Fe Springs on Friday. (Photo by Keith Durflinger)
Swordsmen defeat Cathedral
After a perfect 8-0 record in the Camino Real League, the Swordsmen opened the playoffs with a convincing, 67-49, victory over the Cathedral Phantoms in the first round.
“We struggled at the beginning of the season and had a bumpy season so far,” St. Paul Boys Basketball coach Patrick Roy said. “We’ve won our last nine or 10 (10) basketball games and I’m pleased with the way the players are playing right now. All we can do is get better.”
After a close first half, with the Swordsmen holding a three-point halftime lead, 24-21, the third quarter was a different story.
The Swordsmen nearly doubled the output of the Phantoms, 24-13, to take a 48-34 lead heading into the final quarter.
“We were just able to hit some shots and had better ball movement in the quarter,” said Roy, of the big third quarter. “We were able to hit a couple of layups and I thought that’s what really got us going first.
The Cathedral players made a couple of long-range shots in the game, but Roy explained to the team they couldn’t keep up that pace.
“They hit us for a couple of 20-25 footers and made some baskets and I just told the kids to just lock down and they’re not going to continue to make 35-footers all night, so I said, ‘just make sure we can be stronger on the defensive glass and go down and score’”.
St. Paul’s 7-2 center Sidy Diallo explained how the team came out motivated after Cathedral had hung around in the first half scoring.
“We got in during halftime and the coach was motivating us,” Diallo said. “The game was close and this was a team we could beat, because we have way more talent and we have a way better team. That’s why we had a strong third quarter.
“I always have good defense. I don’t score a lot, but on defense I’m always active.”
Cathedral was led by 6-8 center Damarion Pouncil with a game-high 21 points.
What they said:
Allen Moser, St. Paul 6-2 senior guard: “We made an adjustment at halftime and picked it up on the defensive end. We wanted to focus on defense and focus on their best player.
“The coaching did great in this game.”
St. Paul girls end playoff run
The Lady Swordsmen opened the D1 playoffs with a 58-43 win over San Clemente, with freshman forward Gloria Barrera scoring a game-high 25 points, while sophomore guard Loretta Aguirre-Colmenero had 10 points. Included in her scoring were two 3-pointers.
Junior forward Danielle Alvarez added eight points, which also included two 3-pointers.
In the second-round game at North Torrance, St Paul fell by just five points, 58-53.
With the loss, the Swordsmen finish up with a 20-6 record.
“I am so proud of this team,” St. Paul Girls coach Rich Avina said. “They always played through adversity, always played hard and always played fearless. Although it is tough to end with a loss, I can’t help but to think about how bright this teams’ future is.”
Leading the way again was Barrera with a game-high 26 points, followed by sophomore guard Syri Prevo with 10 points.
Aguirre-Colmenero added eight points (2 3-pointers).
Throughout the four quarters, the game was never separated by much. North had a two-point, 16-14, lead after one and St. Paul outscored North, 14-11in the second quarter and took a 28-27 lead into the locker room.
The second half was more of the same with North retaking the lead in the third quarter, 41-39.
La Mirada boys to the quarters
The Matadores (16-13), who are on a nine-game winning streak, easily defeated Beckman, 95-64 in the opening round and followed that with a two-point, 52-50 win over Tesoro.
La Mirada will host Calabasas (21-5) Friday (Feb. 18) night.
Santa Fe boys bow out in second round
The Chiefs (12-14), who won their opening-round game, 60-45, over Costa Mesa, fell in the second round, 64-55, to University High.
Glenn boys to the quarters
With two wins in the playoffs in D5A for the team with a short bench, school history is being made for the Eagles.
The Eagles (15-12) defeated River Springs, 55-24 in the first round and Hawthorne MSA, 61-58, in the second round to advance to Friday’s quarterfinals against top-seeded Fontana (22-5).