Mitty And Bellarmine CCS Open Finalist
The Central Coast Open Boys Championship Semifinals wrapped last night, with two games at one venue. The first game had 3 seed Bellarmine taking on 7 seed St. Francis, and 1 Mitty versus 4 Menlo Atherton in the second. Bellarmine…
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Continue ReadingThe Central Coast Open Boys Championship Semifinals wrapped last night, with two games at one venue. The first game had 3 seed Bellarmine taking on 7 seed St. Francis, and 1 Mitty versus 4 Menlo Atherton in the second. Bellarmine dominated from beginning to end against a young St. Francis who upset 2 seed Riordan last week. By halftime the Bells were in full control 29-12, and were never threatened. They go on to win 57-28 and will play Mitty. A 63-55 win over a game Menlo Atherton team. Here’s My takeaways on the games.
Bellarmine took care of business in dominant fashion. Led by unsigned Seniors Quinn Denker 6’3 guard. He scored 12 points. I’m pretty sure he’s a candidate for league MVP the WCAL. Ian Elam 6’6 forward, the Senior doesn’t want it to end, he’s been playing good ball lately he scored 13 points. The Bells seem to have found something they like inserting 5’11 shooting guard Anthony Piro into the starting line-up. He’ll knock down 3’s.
Saint Francis is going to be good going forward. With any young team it can be a rollercoaster type season. They upset the Bells in the season, they knocked off Riordan to begin the Open Playoffs. They’re probably going to be seeded in lower division when NorCal Regionals get under way next week. Isaiah Kerr 6’2 2022 combo guard, Harlan Banks 6’1 2022 guard, and Vince Barringer 6’5 2022. The Lancer are capable of making a run in the lower division of regionals.
Mitty’s three unsigned senior guards of Owen Browne 6’3, Mason Ryan 6’3, and Marcus Greene 6’3 combined for 47 of their 63 points, knocking down 6 three’s. Browne was in attack mode early from the beginning repeatedly getting into the lane for buckets 17 point. Greene was calm and confident the whole game even after he picked up 2 fouls early. He made big shots throughout the contest to finish with 14 pts 5 rebs, 5 assists. Mason Ryan proved that any one of the starters on this team can step their game up at any time he was key down the stretch in a tight game. He contributed 16 points.
Menlo Atherton still has an opportunity to do damage in the regionals coming up next week. They’ll probably be seeded in DI. It was hard to get a good read on M/A during the season. They have a solid group of players who are confident and determined. Skyler Thomas was most impressive, he’s a 6’3 2021 athlete who can guard all five positions on the court. He made it tough for Mitty’s bigs to score easy baskets inside. He did a good job on Mike Mitchell (Pepperdine commit) out on the wings. He had 14 pts, 8 rebs, and 4 stls. Justin Anderson got M/A off to a good start with two steals and easy layups. He like Thomas can guard multiple players on the court. He’s a strong body that can take bigger players off the dribble. he contributed 14 pts, 2 blks, 3 stls.
The CCS Open Division finalist are 1 Archbishop Mitty versus 3 Bellarmine. This will be the third time these two will clash this season. Each team winning on the opponents home court. Friday’s game will be held at Stanford’s Maples Pavilion. This is Bellarmine’s 5th straight OPen Division Championship appearance.