Serra uses inside-outside presence, beats ‘Balers 76-47
Heading into the Central Coast Section Division I playoffs, San Benito boys basketball coach John Becerra figured his Haybalers would earn the No. 6 seed.
He was right.
He also believed league rival North Salinas, which the ‘Balers had previously defeated in their regular season finale, would be seeded at No. 10.
He was right about that, too.
But perhaps the one surprise came at the No. 3 seed, Becerra said, where private powerhouse Serra sat with a 17-10 record out of the West Catholic Athletic League.
“I thought they should have been a one (seed) or a two (seed),” Becerra said. “They’re a good team. They’re very physical.”
The ‘Balers, two days removed from their 61-44 victory over Independence in the second round of the CCS playoffs, lost their quarterfinal round matchup to Serra 76-47 Saturday at Independence High School in San Jose.
While the Padres advance to Wednesday’s semifinal round against WCAL rival and 2-seeded Bellarmine, which defeated North Salinas 75-31 Saturday, San Benito finishes its season with an impressive 20-9 record.
“It was a good season,” said guard Marty Bueno, who dropped a team-high 15 points on Serra, and added three assists and three steals. “Not a lot of people thought we were gonna finish the way we did.”
Teammate Brian Haggett scored nine points on the Padres and Jason Canchola added seven, while Kevin Burley pulled down a team-high five rebounds to go along with five points.
San Benito was without Tyler Ruiz, the team’s third leading scorer. Ruiz sprained his ankle against Independence on Thursday, and did not dress Saturday.
“I think we were playing hard, but they just kept running. They were big,” Burley said. “I guess it just wasn’t there today … We just didn’t hit enough shots.”
Serra, which was certainly not short on height, was led by 6-foot-9 center Stephen Lumpkins, whose inside presence was enough to push the Padres out to a 19-8 first-quarter lead.
Lumpkins scored 17 of his game-high 25 points in the first half, while Tom Leahy, who routinely lurked around the arc in the first quarter, pocketed three 3-pointers in the opening stanza and scored 13 of his 17 points in the first half.
“I thought their big guy, Lumpkins, hurt us, and we didn’t have anyone to match up with him,” said Becerra, adding that San Benito’s strategy coming into the game was to “control the big guy.”
Serra pressed for much of the first half, and routinely drained the 35-second shot clock on each offensive possession early in an effort to take San Benito off their game.
“It slowed the game down and we’re more of a fast-paced team,” Bueno said. “We like to run.”
The ‘Balers did shoot 50 percent (10 of 20) from the field in the first half, but Serra’s 93 percent (13 of 14) performance at the free-throw line in the second quarter pushed the Padres out to a 43-24 lead at the break.
“They could shoot the ball well,” Becerra said.
San Benito, which went 14-14 last season and did not qualify for the CCS playoffs, completed their 20-win season this year with a 9-3 record in the Tri-County Athletic League, good enough for second place.
Next year, they’ll be without the services of Josh Bryant, Marty Bueno, Kevin Burley, Aaron Callagher, David DeMateo, Brian Haggett, Armando Medina, Tyler Ruiz, Gustavo Silva and Jamil Taylor.
“It was a great season … Our league is a tough league,” Becerra said. “To win in our league, you’ve got to be good, so I was really proud of the way our kids performed this year.”
Note:
San Benito shot 40 percent from the field (17 of 42) from the field, 50 percent (7 of 14) from the line … Serra was 45 percent (25 of 56) from the field, 83 percent (20 of 24) at the free-throw line.
Team 1 2 3 4 F
SB 8 16 5 18 47
SER 19 24 18 15 76
SB (47) – Bueno 4-9 4-5 15, Burley 2-6 1-4 5, Callagher 0-1 1-2 1, Canchola 3-5 0-0 7, Haggett 4-10 0-0 9, Von Urff 2-3 1-2 6, Zanella 2-6 0-1 4.
Three-point goals: Bueno 3, Canchola 1, Haggett 1, Von Urff 1.
SER (76) – Allgrove 0-2 4-4 4, McEntee 1-5 0-0 2, Leahy 6-11 2-2 17, Dunleavy 1-2 5-5 8, Chavez 1-2 0-0 2, Morehead 2-6 3-4 9, Zoucha 2-3 1-1 5, Decossio 0-4 2-4 2, Lumpkins 11-17 3-3 25, Terry 1-2 0-1 2.
Three-point goals: Leahy 3, Dunleavy 1, Morehead 2.
