Laguna Blanca was undersized Friday night.
Then again, the Owls are undersized in nearly every game.
Five-foot-11 Jake Longstreth — the team’s tallest player — was doing his best to push his weight around down low, but the Owls’ boys basketball team still had to rely too much on the outside in a 54-43 loss to Thacher at Merovick Gym. A win would have secured a playoff spot for Laguna, which must now wait until Sunday to see if the season will continue with an at-large bid.
The Owls scored 24 of their points on 3-pointers in the game while the larger Toads needed only one trey, instead getting to the bucket to set the game’s tempo.
“We kept asking the guys to penetrate and kick it off but they couldn’t do it,” said Laguna coach Sal Rodriguez. “We just didn’t execute… Our biggest kid is Jake, so it’s hard to do.”
Luther Tarver-Burks scored a game-high 20 points for the Owls and Connor Murphy added 13.
“It was a tough game. We should have played better,” said Murphy. “There were streaks when we played well and got the score close, but then we’d go back to our old way of playing and they would make a run on us.”
The Toads took an 8-point lead into the half, but Laguna (5-13, 1-6) chipped it down to two after Tarver-Burks nailed three 3-pointers in a two minute span, putting the Thacher lead at 30-28 with two minutes left in the third. The Toads responded with eight straight points to close out the quarter and Laguna never recovered.
Rodriguez said he expects the team will make the postseason.
THACHER 54, LAGUNA BLANCA 43
THACHER — Tobia 10, Currie 13, Krausie 16, Wynan 2, Jackson 8. Yin 5. Totals 23 6-9 54.
LAGUNA BLANCA — Mikles 2, Murphy 13, Tarver-Burks 20,, Landers 6, Longstreth 2. Totals 17 1-5 43.
Thacher…………….8 14 16 16 — 54
Laguna Blanca…6 18 16 13 — 43
3-point goals — T 1 (Yin), LB 8 (Murphy 3, Tarver-Burks 4, Landers 1 ).
Total fouls — T 9, LB 8.
