Sometimes all it takes is a few shots to go down in order to shake off the nerves of a big game.
That was exactly the case for St. Anthony in their CIF-SS Division 2AA playoff opener against Sonora, as the Saints knocked down three straight three pointers to take a quick nine-point lead in just the opening minutes. St. Anthony went on to win the game by a margin of 70-54 and never trailed in their dominating first round performance.
“For me, when the first one went down I just thought ‘the boys needed that,’” said Saints coach Alan Mitchell. “There were a lot of nerves and I told them that whichever team came out composed would jump out early and have the other team chasing. I’m just glad that it was us who made the first shots.”
“Obviously it was a very important game for us and we wanted to make the statement first,” said senior Quincy Phillips. “We were able to make that statement and we came out with some fire.”
Phillips’ senior presence helped St. Anthony stayed composed early in the game, as the Saints were able to nail five-total three pointers to lead 21-7 after the first quarter. Philips contributed one of the three’s at the first quarter buzzer, and finished with seven points in the opening quarter as he set the tone as the Saints’ go-to bucket-getter to open the game.
“I can breathe a little bit, it’s some relaxation,” said Mitchell of his trust in Phillips. “Knowing you got somebody that can go get a bucket on their own or go get an open shot for somebody else. That young man has embraced leadership and he’s the definition of sacrifice.”
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Despite recording just one field goal in the opening quarter, Sonora was able to find their footing in the second quarter as they began to knock down shots from behind the arc. The Raiders matched St. Anthony’s first quarter with five three-pointers of their own in the second quarter including a second half buzzer beater from Eric Castillo. Sonora was able to move within eight pointers heading into the half.
Having just given up an 8-0 Raider run, the Saints went into the break with a few key mistakes on defense that helped Sonora get back into the game.
“It was just a lack of execution (to end the half),” said Mitchell. “One player fell asleep on four straight possessions all on him. But the one thing about this team is that they’re all growing up, and at half time he took full accountability. I chewed him out and coached him hard and he looked at me right in my eyes and said, ‘you right coach I got you.’ He ended up making the first play of the second half.”
Whatever happened at half time seemed to have worked, as the Saints opened the second half on a huge 14-0 run to capture 51-29 midway through the third quarter. St. Anthony found six total scorers through their early second half run, including five points from senior Quincey Phillips as the Saints led 56-36 after the third.
St. Anthony was able to hold onto their 20-point lead in the fourth quarter to cruise to a first round win at home. Phillips finished his night with a game-high 20 points, while Mikey Cortez and Aman Hayes both scored eight.
“They proved to themselves that they can win in the postseason, and that’s all we didn’t know,” said Mitchell. “But we had a journey that we’ve been on just prepping for moments like this. There’s nothing like the playoffs and it’s a new season. We proved that we can win in the postseason.”
The Saints will travel to Loyola on Friday in the second round of the CIF-SS Division 2AA playoffs. Tip off is set to start at 7:00 PM.
