Imagine last night’s CIF Div. 5 quarterfinal at St. Anthony High was a long NASCAR race. The Saints were the second place car all night behind the Sierra Canyon Trailblazers, but they were drafting, just waiting for their chance to slingshot around the lead car for the victory. However, when they did make their move in the fourth quarter, they made one too many mistakes and the ‘Blazers cruised to victory lane, 55-44.
“That one hurt,” said St. Anthony coach Chris Morrison. “It was the little things that hurt us late, and it’s those little things that win close games like this.”
The Saints were down by as many as 12, but in the fourth quarter they pulled to within three. They had a chance to make it a one point game but a wide open lay up didn’t fall and the ‘Blazers went down and hit a three pointer. St. Anthony came back and got to the free throw line, but missed the second one and the game was essentially over after that as Sierra Canyon slowly pulled away from their own charity stripe.
“That lay up was the turning point,” said Morrison. “That falls, were in it… but the kids fought their hearts out. They could’ve laid down, and they didn’t.”
It would have been easy to lay down in the opening minutes as Sierra Canyon came out shooting and opened up a 10-2 lead. However, as was the story all night, Emmanuel Andino put the Saints on his back and kept it close. The 6’2″ 210lb senior imposed his will off the bench and scored seven of his game high 24 points in the first quarter.
The presence inside forced Sierra Canyon to get out of their man defense and into a zone, and the switch worked. The Trailblazers extended the zone high and forced six Saints turnovers in the second quarter to help them go on a 6-0 run and take the 22-15 lead to the half.
In the third quarter the fans got a treat with the play of Andino and Sierra Canyon’s Michael Cohen. While Andino ruled the boards (game-high 11) and earned three And-1 lay ups, Cohen took over the offense and nailed all four of his shots in the quarter for 10 of his team-high 20 points.
Like at the end of the second quarter, the difference in the second half was the Saints turnovers as Kunal Chhatwal’s two steals turned into two breakaway dunks for Julian Brooks. The Sophomore guard finished with 13 points, three assists and two blocks. Chhatwal finished with four points, three assists and three steals.
Despite the sloppy ball handling Andino pulled the Saints to within three, 43-40, with five minutes to play after getting to the line for the eighth time on the night. But that would be his last points and his last shot with the Trailblazers bringing the late double team on the senior.
On the next trip down for the Saints they would miss the lay up coach Morrison mentioned, and Cohen shut the door with his third three pointer of the night. Sierra Canyon sealed the deal at the free throw line as they went 7-for-10 in the second half, and 6-for-6 in the fourth quarter.
The Saints finish the season with a 20-7 overall record in Morrison’s first year as head coach.
“We’ll learn from this,” said Morrison. “We’ll be back…. we’ll be in the final next year.. we’re going back to work next week.”