The boys basketball team dominated the Half Moon Bay Cougars, 61-48, on Friday night to remain undefeated in league play.
M-A made a statement out of the gate, with senior shooting guard Luca Auer picking off a pass for a fastbreak layup. Both teams exchanged midrange shots, giving the Bears an early 4-2 lead a minute into the game. Auer continued this momentum, weaving through the Cougar defenders to lay it in, and swarming pressure by senior power forward Jerry Williams led to a pull-up three-pointer to extend M-A’s lead, 12-6.
M-A controlled the offensive boards, securing many second-chance opportunities, including a mid-range shot by senior point guard Jacob Sutton. Even so, the Bears were unable to convert on offense, allowing the Cougars to narrow their deficit to end the quarter 14-12.
The second quarter kicked off with the ball in the hands of Half Moon Bay, but senior center Will Abdella drew a charge to quickly return the ball to M-A. Soon after, senior center Aiden Atkins snatched an offensive rebound, getting fouled on the putback and knocking down a free throw.
Williams continued by finishing an and-one through several Cougar defenders, and Atkins was able to secure yet another offensive rebound off the missed free throw.
The Bears continued to push the pace offensively, with Auer finding Williams on a fast break, who split the defense with a crafty eurostep and finished to capitalize on M-A’s six-point scoring run. Auer brought the intensity defensively, knocking away a dribble by the Cougars, but they were able to recover and hit a three-pointer.
Hoping to spark a run, Half Moon Bay took a timeout with just under two minutes left, trailing 22-18. Auer found Williams cutting, and Atkins secured yet another offensive rebound and putback. With 45 seconds remaining, Auer finished a fast break layup, but the Cougars were able to respond, drawing a foul and knocking down three free throws to end the half with the M-A leading, 26-21.
Williams continued to remain a force offensively, scoring off a precise corner three pointer on a crisp assist by Auer. Half Moon Bay attempted to answer with some offense of their own, but were immediately thwarted by Auer, who executed an aggressive steal for a transition layup to give the Bears a 12 point lead, 33-21.
The Cougars were able to regain some energy, scoring on a three-pointer with five minutes left in the quarter. Still, the Bears refused to be intimidated, and Auer snagged yet another steal and layup to flip the momentum back to M-A. A couple plays later, Willaims responded to a Half Moon Bay three-pointer by completing a smooth and-one putback, sinking the free throw to maintain a commanding lead, 38-28.
“They hit like two threes but we stayed calm, poised and came back down the court and got two or three buckets,” Williams said.
Sutton made his own push offensively, with a floater that just barely found its way into the basket. Abdella and senior power forward Axel Pilette both remained rock-solid on defense, with critical blocks. Unfortunately, the Cougars managed to scrape together a layup and three pointer, knocking the Bears off balance and leading to a couple missed shots.
Despite this, Atkins grabbed three offensive rebounds to score off a layup, giving the Bears a comfortable 44-35 lead going into the final quarter.
The fourth quarter showcased pure offensive dominance by the Bears, with Atkins and Sutton both finishing skillful layups. Williams followed this with a fadeaway jump shot, giving M-A the lead 52-42. Atkins then ignited the student section with a commanding dunk.
The Cougars converted on some possessions, but they were unable to make any considerable impact. The game soon came to a close with a 61-48 victory for the Bears.
“I thought we executed great, honestly,” Auer said. “I thought coming into this, we knew Half Moon Bay was gonna run all this, their sets and stuff. That’s what they’re known for. So I thought we scouted them well, and we knew their sets, and we kind of blew them up.”
“I thought we played together. We were really unselfish and I thought we just stayed collective as a unit. We really won this game as a team,” Sutton said.
The Bears will face off against the Jefferson Grizzlies at home on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
