PIEDMONT, Calif. — Faced with an opponent that had a gaudy record but hailed from a region without the likes of East Bay competition, the Piedmont Highlanders asserted themselves early and rolled on their home floor Saturday night in their own 15th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Classic.
Pierce, a perennial Northern Section Division 4 contender from Arbuckle (Colusa County) came into Saturday night having lost just twice all year, but the Bears got a glimpse of how much they’ll need to step their competition up when the state tournament rolls around as the Highlanders cruised to an 83-54 win.
Sophomore guard JoJo Murphy has been the stuff of legend for Piedmont (15-2), drawing tons of attention on highlights and YouTube mixtapes in the first half of his high school career, but he wasn’t alone in his efforts on Saturday. He and junior guard Luke Harris each shared high honors with 18 points and senior forward Luke Barrett had 15, along with eight rebounds and five assists. In all, 12 different players got in on the scoring for the Highlanders, with senior reserve guard Jayden Lee scoring in the fourth quarter as the starters looked on from the bench, thrilled to support him. The hosts took a 22-12 lead after one on a Harris and-1, led by 16 late in the second quarter after a Josh Eidam 3-pointer off a tremendous cross-court pass from David Kisieu and went up by 20 for the first time early in the third off a Harris steal and lay-in. That advantage was as wide as 33 late in the third on the heels of a 12-0 run, with both teams emptying the benches in the fourth.
Pierce (17-3) got 16 points and eight rebounds from junior center Alex High. Junior guard Justin Mathews scored 13 and Daniel Medina dropped in 10, but the Bears struggled to keep up with Piedmont’s offense, hitting just one 3-pointer on the night, which didn’t come until Gentry Condry Jr. connected in the fourth quarter. Conversely, the Highlanders were comfortable with the home rims, draining eight from long distance when they weren’t slicing to the hoop in transition.
Sacred Heart Prep 69, Albany 57
Playing less than 24 hours after an emotionally draining home loss to rival Menlo, the Sacred Heart Prep Gators dominated the middle two quarters en route to a redeeming bounce-back win over Albany.
The Gators won 69-57, outscoring the Cougars 41-23 over the middle two periods and getting solid secondary scoring. With point guard Aidan Braccia limited to just five points after spending the prior night receiving stitches above his eye in the emergency room until 5 a.m., Sacred Heart Prep (10-3) got 12 points apiece from Harrison Carrington and Aidan Burke, with Burke, a 6-foot-6 senior, knocking down a quartet of 3-pointers. Jai Deshpande led all scorers with 17, while Albany (9-9) got 15 points from Max Yoshida and 12 from Tenzin Besaydha.
King’s Academy 68, Marin Academy 53
The first two-plus months of the season have been unforgiving for King’s Academy, with point guard Nicholas Gipson and center Kevin Sielski both out injured, derailing hopes for a team that had hopes to win the West Bay Athletic League.
For one enjoyable evening, the Knights put those problems aside and cruised to a 68-53 win over Marin Academy. Both Noah Short and Jeffrey Taylor dominated, combining to nearly outscore the Wildcats’ entire team.
Short, a football standout who already has an offer to play linebacker at Washington State, had 22 points, eight rebounds and five assists, showcasing his physical attributes that make him such a valuable asset on the football field before an East Bay audience unfamiliar with his talents. Onlookers in the sparse crowd quickly understood why he’s so captivating, rushing through the defense for a putback just like he had shot out of a cannon to stop two-point conversions in the final seconds in back-to-back weeks to help TKA’s football team win a Central Coast Section Championship for the second year in a row.
Taylor led King’s Academy (6-9) with 24, draining five 3-pointers as the Knights led by as much as 17 in the first half. That lead expanded to 17 a minute into the third quarter on a Josh Caravalho and-1 before a big push from Marin Academy (5-12), with a 10-2 run to cut the lead all the way down to 40-31 before Taylor hit his final two threes, with the last stretching the lead to 49-34. Freshman point guard Joe Taylor, one of three freshmen on the Knights’ roster, made a pair of free throws with with 2:16 remaining to get the lead to 20 before the Wildcats made one last push, with sophomore William Bennett hitting three late 3-pointers to finish with 11 points on the game. Also scoring 11 for Marin Academy were Ethan Haggerty and Kai Summersall, while Caravalho finished with 11 for the Knights.
Marin Academy was badly hampered at the charity stripe, making just nine of 25 free throws. Aside from Haggerty, who went 5-for-8, no other member of the Wildcats even hit 50% of their attempts.
In the first game of the day, Envision Academy (6-12) defeated Rancho San Juan (1-11).
