BOYS BASKETBALL: St. Francis Moves Past El Camino in CCS Quarters

St. Francis 65 , El Camino 49

The Star: The St. Francis High-Mountain boys basketball team used its full array of scoring options to outlast a feisty El Camino High-South San Francisco team Saturday afternoon in a Central Coast Section Boys Basketball Division II playoff game at Foothill College. Depth was the key factor for the No. 2 seed Lancers on this day. Starters Vince Miles (14 points), Ivan Magaretic (10 points) and Kenneth Harris Jr. (11 points) each scored in double figures, but it wasn’t just the starters that got to have all the fun.

Smooth shooting junior guard Jarod Diaz ripped off eight points in a flash during a hot shooting streak in the second quarter. Diaz knocked down a pair of free throws and followed that up with a pair of corner 3-pointer’s, the second gave his team a 10-point lead late in the first half. Diaz closed the second strong, while junior center Thomas Peterson opened up the eight-minute stretch with some poised play inside. The 6-foot-5 post player dropped in a pair of hooks across the middle and added a tear drop inside to ignite a strong second quarter by the St. Francis reserves.

The Turning Point: Diaz and Peterson both excelled in the second quarter to grow the Lancers lead from one point after the opening quarter to a healthy 12-point advantage at the halftime break. Still hanging around after three quarters, a 6-0 run late in fourth quarter sealed the deal for the higher seed. Senior guard Ivan Magaretic broke down the defense and dished a pretty pass to senior forward Chris Chang for a layup to open the run. A pair of made free throws and a Vince Miles tip-in followed, giving the Lancers a 60-46 lead late in the ball game.

The Quotes: “I went up to El Camino on Thursday night to check them out,” St. Francis head coach Mike Motil said about El Camino and the Colts pair of dynamic guards. “Their guards are really tough to stop off the bounce. Give them credit for playing well.”

 The Lancers head man was pleased with a pair of contributions off the bench from reserves Jarod Diaz and Thomas Peterson.

 “Jarod hit those two free throws so I decided to leave him in,” Motil said. “He’s streaky like that. He hit a couple 3-pointers that really helped us. Diaz and Thomas Peterson played really well in the second quarter. We know that we’re going to have to play better on Tuesday and make shots in order to win.”

 What's Next? St. Francis will battle it out with No. 3 seed Leigh High-San Jose Tuesday night at Foothill College. The winner will most likely square off against No. 1 seed Archbishop Mitty on Friday night.

Leigh defeated Mountain View High 64-57 in the quarterfinal game that followed the Lancers win.

Bottom Line: Despite a dazzling showing from El Camino junior guard Anthony Knight—the uber-athletic guard scored a game-high 22 points in the loss—St. Francis was able to hold down the rest of the Colts offense, making their opponents work hard for every shot.

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St. Francis Scoring

Vince Miles-14

Ivan Margaretic-10

Kenneth Harris Jr.-11

Chris Chang-6

Lamond McCoy-2

Thomas Peterson-6

Jarod Diaz-8

Sean Dawkins-2

Khalid Johnson-6