Anzar rebounds from loss to PG, beats Carmel 53-44
San Juan Bautista – Anzar overcame a sluggish start and was the beneficiary of contributions from multiple players as it rebounded from a tough loss to beat Carmel 53-44 at home Monday in Mission Trail Athletic League action.
Four different players scored at least eight points for the Hawks (13-6, 5-2 MTAL) as they fought off a lack of energy to pull away from the Padres (4-13, 2-4).
“I don’t think the energy level was good,” said Anzar coach Ed Cecena, whose team fell in overtime 56-47 to first-place Pacific Grove (10-6, 6-0) on Thursday. “I was really emphasizing to go out and play hard. I thought (Carmel) outplayed us in the first quarter. We stuck to our gameplan and got over the hump.”
The Padres did well to limit the production of Hawks’ senior Scott Benson, who leads the area in scoring. The 6-2 forward scored 16 points – 11 below his average – but pulled down 19 rebounds.
Several others helped pick up the scoring slack, led by Adrian Monroy’s 11 points. Stephen Mockabee and Erik Olson added eight and Ryan Waller had six.
“That’s real big for us the second time around playing these teams,” Monroy said. “They’ve seen us and seen what we can do. The rest of us need to step up. (Benson’s) been carrying us all year, now we need to carry him.”
Early on the Padres looked like the team playing with a purpose, jumping out to early leads of 7-4 and 9-6.
An 8-2 run put the Hawks back on top and they held a 16-13 lead after the first quarter.
A 3-pointer by Carmel’s Alex Pickert early in the second quarter tied the game, but Anzar responded and finished the half holding a 26-22 lead.
Late in the third quarter, the Hawks began to pull away, scoring six of the final eight points in the period to take a seven-point lead into the fourth.
Anzar pushed the lead to 42-31 early in the final quarter before Carmel made a final push of its own. The Padres scored eight straight points to make it a three-point game before the Hawks’ Hector Zavala ended the run with a pair of free-throws and Anzar controlled the game from there.
“We have no margin for error. Pacific Grove may run the table,” Cecena said. “We have to take care of business and hopefully get a little help.”
Olson added 13 rebounds to his solid scoring night before he fouled out with less than a minute left. Pickert led Carmel with a game-high 19 points and Kenny Johnston scored 17 for the Padres.
Carmel 13 9 9 13 – 44
Anzar 16 10 12 15 – 53
Carmel (44) – Pickert 6 4-5 19, Chappel 0 2-2 2, Johnston 6 4-8 17, Rigby 0 0-4 1, Martinez 1 0-0 2, Call 2 0-0 4. Totals – 15 10-19 44.
Anzar (53) – Waller 3 0-0 6, Indarose 1 0-0 2, Mockabee 4 0-0 8, Monroy 4 3-4 11, Benson 6 4-8 16, Olson 3 2-2 8, Zavala 0 2-2 2. Totals – 21 11-16 53.
3-point goals – Pickert 3, Johnston. Fouled out – Martinez, Mockabee, Olson.
