St. Pat’s defeats Albany at home
Alexander, Scott propel St. Pat's win over Albany
They serve the players good ole fashioned water at St. Patrick-St. Vincent High School basketball games. However, if fans didn’t know any better, they might have thought the trainers switched the water with Red Bull or another highly caffeinated beverage before the second quarter.
The Bruins’ sluggish start was soon replaced with frantic, nonstop steals and uncontested layups in the second period. St. Pat’s used that push to knock off Albany 76-60 on Friday at the Bruin’s Lair.
“It was just our energy level,” St. Pat’s head coach Derek Walker said. “In the first quarter, it looked like we just showed up. It was a league game and Albany has always been tough on us. They came to compete, and we weren’t ready. In the second quarter, we competed and you saw the results.”
St. Pat’s (10-4, 2-0) trailed 17-11 after a quarter but went on a devastating 16-0 run to start the sec
ond quarter. Senior point guard Jalen Scott ignited the run with a 3-pointer and he finished off the spurt with a put-back. Scott (15 points) just recently returned to the lineup after missing eight games due to an ankle injury.
“He’s been out for so long it’s going to take him a while to get up to speed,” Walker said. “It’s good to have him back. He’s a senior. He knows
how to make his shot and he knows the system and has been around a while.”
One player who has been up to speed all year is junior forward Jaden Alexander and he was stellar again on Friday with 13 of his gamehigh 21 points in the first half. He added seven boards, a blocked shot and a breakaway dunk in the first quarter.
Alexander mentioned it was good to be home again. The Bruins started the season with 13 straight road games. That even included four games outside of California
when the team competed in the Visit Mesa (Ariz.) Challenge.
“We bonded,” he said about the road. “We went all the way to Arizona, to Gridley. We stayed in hotels and all of that. We had a good time out there.”
The 16-0 blitz in the second quarter put the Bruins up 27-17. The Cougars called timeout in the middle of the run to no avail.
A turn-around jumper from Billy Donovan finally ended the streak but Albany went into halftime down 3825. St. Pat’s even finished the half strong as Scott set up Wilfred Nado for a threepoint play with 10 seconds left on the clock.
The Bruins then scored eight of the first 11 points of the third quarter to lead 4628 and force another Cougars’ timeout. St. Pat’s eventually led 62-42 after three quarters.
Albany (8-8, 0-2), however, finally found some life
in the fourth quarter, going on a 14-3 spurt to trail just 65-55 with 4:21 left. Guard A.J. Gilbert got hot with nine of his 12 points in the fourth quarter. The Cougars wouldn’t get any closer though as Tariq Johnson (12 points) stopped the bleeding with a hook shot and Izz Fifita made an inside shot to push the lead back to 14 points.
The Bruins were without 6-foot-11 center Dishon Jackson along with scrappy guard Esai Contreras due to injuries.
“Scott has been out and D.J. has been in and out,” Walker said. “I’m still learning my team myself. But you know what, they compete, they play hard, they’re trying to do things the right way, but it’s still a work in progress.”
The Bruins won the junior varsity game 66-52.