San Marino High hosted Flintridge Prep in the first boys’ basketball game of the new year for both schools.
After building a sizable lead, the Titans had to overcome fourth-quarter obstacles: going ice cold on offense, and a surging Wolves team.
Flintridge Prep nearly clawed its way back, but San Marino withstood the offensive lull and held on to escape with a 53-47 win in nonleague action Jan. 3.
“We stalled a little bit, but then we were able to finish it out, so I’m proud of them for that,” San Marino coach Mihail Papadopulos said.
San Marino, which improved to an overall 17-2 record following the win over Flintridge Prep, led by as many as 20 points in the second half and carried a 13-point cushion into the fourth quarter.
However, Flintridge Prep (15-4, 2-0) scored the first 10 points of the final frame before the hosts got their first points of the quarter with less than two minutes to go on a jumper by senior Bobby Reyes.
The Wolves pulled within one possession once again at 50-47 with 37 seconds left after a pair of free throws. Soon after, Titan Jack Fuerst made a key layup off an inbounds pass by Reyes.
“The plan wasn’t to go to me, it was actually to go to Jayden [Tse], our best shooter,” Fuerst said. “I set the screen and turned around and I was wide open. Bobby found me, like he does all the time, and I just put it up because I knew exactly what to do.”
The Wolves then missed a 3-point attempt at the other end before fouling Reyes with 18.5 seconds left. The senior hit one of two from the charity stripe to set the final margin.
“It was a really gritty win,” Reyes said. “They came back, in what I think was the fourth quarter, and I don’t think we could buy a bucket. But we came together as a collective group and we stayed with it. I think Jack hit a big shot and I hit a big shot, so it was just a real gritty win.”
Fuerst led all scorers with 19 points, and also grabbed eight rebounds. Reyes had a double-double with 17 points and 10 assists to go with two steals. Tse joined them in double-digit scoring with 11 points. Casey Chan scored four points, and Marco Rangel had two points off the bench. Although he did not score, Mitch Mooney hauled down 12 rebounds and played an important role on defense, slowing down Flintridge Prep’s 6-foot-8 senior Henry Morrison.
“[Mooney’s] defense and the rebounds were just fantastic,” Papadopulos said. “I thought his effort in those areas really helped us win.”
Morrison led the Wolves with 17 points. Lawson Holland and William Bigby joined him in double digits with 13 and 10 points, respectively. Noah Willingham contributed five points and Malcolm Cook had two off the bench.
“We’re very disappointed to lose, but I’m proud of the guys and how we fought,” Flintridge Prep coach Robert Cartwright said.
Flintridge Prep led twice in the early stages of the first quarter after Morrison scored the first points of the game from close range and again at 7-6 after a Bigby field goal. However, Reyes quickly answered with a pull-up jumper and the hosts would not trail again. The Titan advantage peaked twice at nine points in the first quarter before it ended 24-16. All four makes from beyond the arc in the contest for San Marino came in the opening quarter, with three coming from Tse, who had nine points in the first period. Fuerst had seven and Reyes six.
San Marino opened the second quarter on an 8-0 run, with the first six points coming from Fuerst, to double up the Wolves on the scoreboard at 32-16. Holland scored the first points of the quarter for the visitors on a layup with 4:46 left. Rangel scored on an underhanded hook right after, but that would be it for the Titans in the quarter. The Wolves went on to score six points and to cut the Titan lead to 34-24 at halftime.
The second half saw San Marino open on a 10-0 run over the first 3:51 of the quarter to set up its largest lead of the contest at 44-24. It started with a jumper by Fuerst, then a fast-break layup by Tse, a jumper by Chan, a layup by Reyes on a drive and finally two free throws from Reyes. The Wolves scored the next seven points as part of an 11-2 run before Fuerst scored the final two points of the quarter to make it 48-35 going into the fourth.
Earlier in the day, the Titans learned that senior Adrian Huang, who had hurt his ankle two games prior, was most likely out for the season as what they had hoped was a sprain turned out to be worse.
“We found out today we lost Adrian to a fracture and is, most likely, out for the season,” Papadopulos said. “So, it’s a lot to absorb in a short amount of time, but I thought our guys played really, really hard.”
SAN MARINO 71, WEST COVINA 49
The Titans improved to 18-2 overall with a road win over the Bulldogs in a nonleague contest on Jan. 5.
Reyes led the way with 18 points and six assists. Tse had 11 points and four rebounds. Chan also had 11 points to go with three rebounds. Fuerst contributed nine points in the win.
First published in the Jan. 11 issue of the San Marino Tribune
