BOYS BASKETBALL: Archbishop Mitty Too Much for St. Francis in CCS Finals

Archbishop Mitty 54, St. Francis 36

The Star: Archbishop Mitty senior guard Kyle Toth. The smooth shooter filled it up for a game-high 19 points. Sophomore Aaron Gordon, the first ever sophomore to win West Catholic Athletic League Player of the Year honors, garners the majority of the headlines, but the Mitty seniors stole the show on this night. The back court tandem of Toth and speedy point man Colin Wan were too much to handle as Mitty rolled past St. Francis 54-36 in the Central Coast Section Division II Boys Basketball Championship game Friday night at Santa Clara University.

Gordon had eight points, including an emphatic follow-up slam in the waning moments of the third quarter. Wan scored seven points.

St. Francis senior guard Kenny Harris Jr. led his team with nine points. Sean Dawkins had seven points and Ivan Margaretic chipped in six.

The Turning Point: A 13-point halftime deficit nearly doubled in a hurry for the Lancers. Archbishop Mitty (30-2) came out cookin’ in the third quarter, led by the sizzling shooting of Toth. Back-to-back triples by Toth, followed up by a monster block from Gordon sprung the Monarchs advantage to 39-18 midway through the quarter. St. Francis had looks from behind the arc in the first half and continued to use patience to find open shots in the second half. However, the combination of cold Lancers shooting and the relentless pressure put on by an incredibly efficient Mitty offense spelled big trouble in the end for the No. 2 seeded Lancers (15-13).  

The Quote: “ The seniors wanted to slow the game down so we did it,” St. Francis head coach Mike Motil said about the slow down Princeton-style offense his team used to burn clock and control the tempo in the first half against Archbishop Mitty. “Their (Mitty) senior class is awesome. They’re the heart and soul of the team. The last time we played them the score was 81-67. We thought we’d try something different tonight.”

The game also marked the return of Lancers 6-foot-8 junior center Drew Dickey from injury. Dickey was the starting center until a hand injury sidelined him for several games.

"Drew (Dickey) was cleared to play yesterday," Motil said. "He hasn't even practiced yet, but we decided to give him a little run in the third quarter. When he fell down and landed on his hand, I decided to get him back out of there. He said the hand just has some general soreness. I don't think he re-injured it."

 What's Next? St. Francis will await the unveiling of the NorCal brackets Sunday night. Coach Motil said Friday night that he hopes to get a top four seed which means the Lancers would host a first round tournament game on Tuesday night.

Bottom Line: With St. Francis unable to match up with Mitty’s size, the Monarchs were able to pack in the middle and dare their opponents to score from outside. St. Francis obliged but couldn’t find the necessary shooting magic to put a scare in the top seed.

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