NEWPORT BEACH – On a Wednesday night when buckets were as tough to come by as an enjoyable way to abstain from drive-thru, fast food, it was up to the St. Francis High Golden Knights’ boys’ basketball team to punch out a 45-39, first-round CIF Southern Section Division 1 victory over the host Pacifica Christian Tritons.
Coach Todd Wolfson’s team – which finished fifth in the Mission League and advanced to the playoffs via the at-large route – hit just 15 of 44 shots from the floor (.341) but eight of the field goals were from behind the 3-point arc.
And his 6-foot-5 junior, Mazi Mosley, was such a focal point of the Tritons’ defensive game plan that the other Golden Knights were able to get just enough “clean looks” – often near the end of the shot clock – hit some timely 3s.
The most critical of those came with Pacifica Christian trailing, 35-31, after junior E.J. Spillman had hit one of the free throws for the Tritons.
Mosely, double-teamed in the backcourt, slipped and appeared to travel in front of the Pacifica Christian bench.
But the furthest of the three-man official (nearest the St. Francis bench), raced toward where Mosley was on the floor and defenders were diving to try to gain control of the ball and ruled that he had granted Wolfson a timeout with 3:13 remaining.
When play resumed, the ball was worked into the left corner where Ethan Childs swished his third 3 to push the advantage to seven.
Spillman’s two free throws got his team to within 38-33 with 2:25 remaining and, at the other end, Mosley (a team-high 16 points on five of 16 from the field, including two 3s, and four of seven free throws) missed a 3.
But, after securing the rebound, the Tritons committed one of their 14 turnovers.
And the Golden Knights (19-10/they play at No. 2 seed Windward Friday night) once more milked the clock, with 5-9, left-handed junior Dyllen Domingo terminating the possession with a floating, 5-foot banker from the left side for another seven-point edge with 1:31 to go.
Pacifica Christian (the San Joaquin League champion/18-11) – the state D-II runner-up last season – threw a lot of defensive looks at Mosely, from half-court and full-court traps to keep the ball out of his hands, and “face-guarding him”, away from ball, usually with 6-1 Michael Noel.
The tactics succeeded in limiting his “good shots”, especially over the first three quarters when he was three of 12 from the field.
But he was able to rise above multiple defenders for a couple of mid-range jumpers in the fourth quarter. And his “presence” and willingness to give the ball up quickly gave teammates some solid scoring opportunities.
“We watched a lot of film (in preparation for the game), so we knew what they were going to try to do (defensively),” Mosely (pictured) said afterward.
“And we came in with a good mindset and executed.”
And the Golden Knights’ stout half-court defense created the environment when “only 45 points” were enough to get them out of Newport on their way back to La Canada with the win.
Even minus sophomore Delan Grant (out with concussion protocol following an in-practice collision Monday), St. Francis was able to limit the hosts to 11 of 36 from the field (.395), and just a single 3.
The muscular Grant would have likely drawn the man-to-man defensive assignment against the 6-3, 220-pound Spillman.
But Spillman’s 17 points came after missing eight of 12 shots from the field and hitting nine of 12 from the free-throw line.
“We did a good job of packing in our defense (to cut off Spillman’s ability to muscle his way into the lane for layups),” said Wolfson. “We wanted someone else to have to beat us.”
They weren’t a one-trick pony, defensively, either, while pressuring the Pacifica Christian jump shooters, notably Noel, one of the “purest” jump shooter in the Orange County sophomore class.
“We paid special attention to him (Noel),” Wolfson said. “We made sure we knew where he was at all times.”
WEDNESDAY NIGHT SoCAL NOTES:
*St. Francis’ five fellow Mission League members also won first-round games, with the No. 1 D 1 seed, Notre Dame, pulling out an overtime decision at Crean Lutheran in Irvine, 74-64, behind the usual terrific performance out of guard Mercy Miller (31 points).
Two other Mission teams, Harvard-Westlake and Sierra Canyon, are in Open action Friday night.
*There were no major “upsets” in the 11 D-1 results (five teams drew byes), although the margins of victory by Santa Margarita (72-55, at an Oxnard team that was 23-5) and Etiwanda (89-53 over visiting Village Christian).
*Eleven of the 16 teams in D-1 second-round games set for Friday night played in the Classic at Damien in December.
Three of the games – Rancho Verde at Etiwanda, Foothill at Redondo Union, and St. Bernard at La Mirada – are “all-Classic” matchups.
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