Boys basketball: San Marin keeps MCAL playoff hopes alive

Shhhh…. Don’t call it a “must-win.” San Marin High boys basketball coach Chris Lavdiotis and his players knew their MCAL playoff hopes hung in the balance with Tuesday’s showdown against San Rafael.

“We prepared so well for this game,” Lavdiotis said after Tuesday’s crucial 82-80 home victory as the Mustangs celebrated Senior Night. “These guys are so good, and we were locked in.”

The Mustangs’ Jake Beisler clinched the win at the free-throw line to give San Marin a five-point lead just before the Bulldogs’ Jax Aguillon hit a 3-pointer at the final buzzer.

Miller Morgan scored 20 of his career-high 34 points in the first half, while Grant Means had 13 points. Beisler added 11 points and Jackson Young had nine points.

“Miller and Grant, without really saying anything, you could tell they were ready to play,” Lavdiotis said. “They earned this win. No one gave us anything, which is cool, this was a good win.”

Luke Shapiro led the Bulldogs with 33 points, 10 rebounds and eight steals, and Will Healy nearly stole the show with 24 points and 13 rebounds. Thomas Hellyer had 12 points for the Bulldogs.

“When Luke graduates, I’ll probably look back and go ‘Wow,’ I had the best seat in the house for the most entertaining player that this county has seen in a long time,” San Rafael head coach Colin Hamilton said.

The Mustangs avoided elimination from playoff contention, but San Marin (14-11, 3-4) still needs to beat Archie Williams High in Thursday’s finale if the Mustangs want to avoid a tiebreaker with San Rafael (14-11, 3-4) and Tam (12-14, 3-5), which wrapped up the regular season Tuesday with a 71-54 loss to Archie Williams.

San Rafael, which holds the No. 2 tiebreaker, beat Tam, 73-55. The Bulldogs face fourth-place Branson (12-12, 4-2) on Thursday at Dominican University. San Marin lost 77-74 to Tam, which holds the No. 7 tiebreaker over the Mustangs.

“We never said this was a must-win game,” Lavdiotis said. “The guys in the locker room knew, ever since we lost to Tam (on Jan. 20), but we haven’t talked about it.”

The Bulldogs edged the Mustangs, 65-63, a year ago on the Dominican University court to clinch their first MCAL playoff appearance in seven years.

“It’s MCAL Madness, and even when you lose, you have to appreciate what this county’s basketball is all about. It a very cool place to play,” said Hamilton, who played at San Marin as a freshman.

Shapiro and Healy powered the Bulldogs, who led by as much as eight points in the first quarter. Morgan was rock solid from the free-throw line, and hit a jumper with 26 seconds left in the opening quarter to make it a one-point game.

Beisler hit his third 3-pointer of the game to open the second quarter and give San Marin its first lead, 24-22. Fans’ heads were on a swivel as the action — and the lead — went back and forth in a hurry throughout the rest of the game.

The Bulldogs’ inside game took a major hit late in the third quarter when junior forward Wyatt Tornello went down hard with a sprained ankle. He hopped to his bench  after racking up five points, six rebounds and six assists and did not return to the game.

“When Tornello went out, we were able to go harder on Healy,” Lavdiotis said.

Healy, who had 16 points in the first half and eight in the third quarter, was held to just one basket in the fourth quarter.

Shapiro tried to rally the Bulldogs, with back-to-back baskets to open the fourth quarter that cut the Mustangs’ lead to 65-64. Morgan answered with a six-point run of his own, but the Bulldogs kept coming back.

Hellyer hit a 3-pointer, then Healy grabbed the rebound on Shapiro’s missed shot and rammed the ball home to tie the score at 73 apiece with 2:40 left to play.

The Mustangs took the lead for good in the final minute on a Morgan layup. Young grabbed the ball from the Bulldogs and drove it the length of the court for a layup.

With San Marin leading by 3 points and 28 seconds on the clock, the Bulldogs were still clinging to hope, but they couldn’t hold on to the ball. San Rafael turned the ball over five times in the final 90 seconds after committing 10 turnovers in the first three quarters.

Young blindsided Healy when he stepped in front of San Rafael’s inbounds pass. San Rafael immediately fouled him and Young missed both free throws. Healy grabbed the rebound, but lost it to a scrappy Anthony Elwell in the paint.

“Anthony and Kellen Dunning both did a great job against Shapiro,” Lavdiotis said. “I told the guys, if Shapiro’s going to score 25 points, he’s going to have to take 25 shots. And they did a great job on defense.”

Elwell and Morgan both went to the line before Shapiro hit a pair of free throws to keep the Bulldogs within one shot, before Beisler clinched the win.

Hamilton said, “It’s hard to turn the page mentally right after a close loss,.. But right now everything is about us mentally turning the page and having a great practice. And I told them that 48 hours from now, we’re going to be in a packed gym, they’re going to have their red jerseys on and they’re going to do it all over again. And that’s just a continuation of the MCAL Madness.”

Around the county

• Archie Williams is rolling heading into the playoffs after its fourth consecutive win on Tuesday, a 71-54 victory over Tam. Brian Wright led the way for the Falcons (17-6, 6-1) with 25 points, Meezy Butler had 15, and Grady Stewart scored 10. Elliot Kruger scored a team-high 18 points for Tam in its regular-season finale. Arman Salkhi and Felix Jacobs had nine points each for the Red-tailed Hawks(12-14, 3-5).
• NJ Gray tallied 21 points and dished out seven assists as Branson beat Terra Linda, 69-51, on Tuesday. Gabe Halbrecht had 17 points for the Bulls (12-12, 5-2), who got 13 points from Tyler Wells. The Trojans (11-11, 1-6) are scheduled to face Marin Catholic on Thursday.
• Marin Catholic (20-3, 6-1) posted a 87-55 victory over Novato on Tuesday. Gabe Rimbaud led the Hornets (0-24, 0-7) with 17 points, while Padon Coleman had nine points and seven rebounds. Mehkai Franklin and Ryan Torres both had seven points for Novato.
• Max Monterastelli scored a team-high 15 points as Redwood High edged Benicia, 68-65, on Tuesday. Harry White and Jake Post scored 14 points each for the Giants (10-12, 5-2).