Friday night’s Cate-Laguna Blanca boys basketball game changed course about as fast as a Ferrari Testarossa.
Too bad for Laguna Blanca, it was Cate out for the joyride, using a 17-2 run in the second half to snatch away a Condor League victory from crosstown rival Laguna Blanca in a come-from-behind 63-56 victory.
Cate's Stu Engs shoots over Laguna Blanca's Luther Tarver-Burks.
The Owls led 45-38 late in the third quarter after Justin Shand knocked down a mid-range jump shot. With three minutes left in the game, however, Cate was holding its own 55-47 advantage.
‘We melted down,” said Sal Rodriguez simply put. “We just couldn’t handle the pressure at the end of the game. It was just turnover, turnover, turnover.”
Sure enough, it was Cate’s full-court press that put the Rams in the driver’s seat.
“It was our pressure on defense that really changed the game. They had a tough time handling it,” said Cate head coach Bryan Rodriguez.
Individually, the Owls had a difficult time handling freshmen Houston Bradley, Wes Greason and Stu Engs.
Bradley posted a team-high 18 points, with Engs adding 13 and Greason 12, but it was how they got there that was interesting.
Greason hit three 3-pointers, his last giving Cate its first lead at 48-47. Both Bradley and Engs sat in the locker room at halftime with four points, scoring a majority of their total in the final two quarters. Bradley really came on in the fourth, pouring in 10 points.
“This is our first comeback of the year,” said senior captian Mark Mullan, one of four returning players from last year’s varsity. “We’ve never been able to rally and we finally pulled it out.”
Laguna Blanca had four players in double-figure scoring, led by Luther Tarver-Burks’ 21. Logan Elder tallied 11 points and Brandon Bickett and Shand added 10 each.
“It’s a frustrating loss because we could have won the game, especially at home,” lamented Rodriguez, whose team is now 2-3 in league play.
Cate is 2-1 after a dominating win at Dunn and a close loss to Thacher.
The two teams play again at Cate on Feb. 5. Cate travels to Ojai Valley for its next game. The Owls play one of their final two non-league games left on Monday when they travel crosstown to take on Bishop Diego.
CATE 63, LAGUNA BLANCA 56
CATE – Person 6, Bradley 18, Engs 13, Greason 12, Winnikoff 6, Castaneda 2, Nwasike 2, Mullan 4.
LAGUNA BLANCA – Elder 11, Serbin 2, Bickett 10, Tarver-Burks 21, Shand 10, Gray 2.
Cate 13 11 16 23 – 63
Laguna Blanca 19 10 16 11 – 56
3-ptrs Cate 3 (Greason 3), LB 3 (Elder 2, Tarver-Burks)
