SAN MATEO, CA - Baseball season is starting late for Serra two-sport athletes Sean Watkins and Jake Killingsworth.
Saturday the duo missed another diamond affair to help the Padre basketball team to a 59-54 victory against Montgomery. The victory in the second round of the NorCal Division II playoffs and sends Serra (22-8) to the NorCal semifinals where it will face host Folsom at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
A few hours before Serra rallied to beat Montgomery, the Padre baseball team dismantled San Benito 16-5.
"We miss it, but we want to be playing baseball after March 29 which means after the state (basketball) finals," said Watkins, a pitcher-infielder who has committed to Loyola for baseball. .
As for Killingsworth, he moved to the Bay Area mid-year from Arkansas after his mom got transferred. He'll have a three-day baseball tryout for the Padres once basketball season is finished.
"It's definitely hard going into the (baseball) season so late," said Killingsworth, a 6-foot-4 sophomore. "I will just have to go out after the basketball season and hopefully help the team."
For now, Killingsworth and Watkins are aiding the basketball team. They both made key second-half baskets to help the Padres rally from a 10-point deficit two minutes into the second half to overtake the Vikings in a tense, physical game.
Watkins, a senior guard, said Serra didn't panic when it fell behind 33-23 with 6:08 left in the third quarter.
"We were thinking we've been there before" he said. "We just had to regroup and re-focus."
Padre coach smartly Chuck Rapp called a time out and settled down his players.
I said 'Just be cool. We've played 30 games. We have a bunch of seniors on our team and we've been in some tough, difficult situations."
Senior guard Danny Mahoney (13 points) got Serra going, scoring five straight points to cut Montgomery's lead in half (33-28) with 4:35 left in the third quarter.About 40 seconds later, Watkins picked up his fourth foul and went to the bench. But Serra got a lift from bench players like Seth Bartlett, Frank Lemos, Marcus Alvarez and Stephon Nettles, with Nettles making a lay-in just before the third quarter ended to give Serra a 40-38 lead.
Serra isolated Killingsworth down low late in the third quarter and he responded with two clutch baskets en route to a 5-for-6 effort from the field.
"He's been money for us all year," Rapp said. "We went to him a few times and I thought that was the difference in the end of the third quarter."
Senior guard Cory Cravalho hit a three-pointer from the wing early in the fourth quarter to break a tie and Serra led the rest of the way. Watkins, rested from his stint on the bench, scored nine of his team-high 16 points in the final stanza, including 5-of-6 free throws in the game's final minute as the Padres held off the Vikings.
Montgomery sizzled from the field in the first half, particularly Alec Raven (game-high 26 points) and Sam Averbuck, who made three first-half three-pointers to help give the Vikings a 29-23 halftime lead. But Montgomery went just 1-of-10 from the free throw line in the first half and 10-of-24 for the game (42 percent).
"It was free throws and I thought they yanked up the pressure a little bit," Montgomery coach Tom Fitchie said. "I thought we could have handled it a little better."
Montgomery was the better team for the first 18 minutes of the game, running its offense well and taking good shots. Serra made uncharacteristic turnovers on offense and didn't extend on the Viking shooters.
"No. 3 (Averbuck) had three open looks where he had time to draw a picture of the ball going into the hoop," Rapp said. "That had to be stopped."
But Serra ramped up the pressure and also subbed often, helping to wilt the Vikings in a sweltering gym.
"We tried to sub a lot and get the guys in there and wear them down a little bit," Rapp said.
It took a gusty effort by Serra down the stretch to defeat the well-schooled Vikings (26-7). Montgomery was ready for the Padres, having played such powers as Monte Vista-Danville, Oakland Tech, El Camino Real-Woodland Hills and Freedom-Oakley during the non-league season.
"We had a great season," Fitchie said. "I thought we played really good. We missed some free throws, but I'm proud of our guys."
As for Serra, it dug deep to win the last home game for seniors Watkins, Cravalho and Mahoney.
"It was really important," Mahoney said of winning his home finale. "You don't want to say 'I lost my last game at Serra.' We're looking forward to the opportunity to go up to Folsom and we know they have a very good team, also."
