WATSONVILLE — It’s nice to be home and if the St. Francis Sharks keep it up, they’ll stay there until the end.
The No. 1-seeded Sharks dismantled the No. 16-seeded Fresno Christian Eagles 86-56 on Wednesday in the opening round of the California Interscholastic Federation NorCal Division V state playoffs at home in front of a raucous crowd.
The win sets up St. Francis (26-2) with the No. 8 seed Argonaut on Saturday at 6 p.m. in the second round of the state playoffs.
“It’s always fun to get wins in March,” said St. Francis head coach Ed Kelly, the SCCAL Coach of the Year.
The Shark Tank smelled blood early in a game the Eagles (17-16) hotly contested through the first half.
Junior forward Jason Gallo led St. Francis with a career-high 33 points and the Sharks leveraged their size and athleticism against a scrappy and veteran Eagles squad.
Senior center Ruben Ibarra scored 15 points and dominated in the paint. Ibarra gobbled up rebounds and dropped in buckets, often flat-footed, over the outstretched arms of Eagles defenders.
First team SCCAL junior forward Chase Watkins shot the ball well, but it was his dunks that set the tone early and send a shockwave through the crowd.
The opening round victory may only be a taste for what may yet to come. Visions of a D-V championship, which once may have seemed to be a distant goal, could soon be in their grasp.
“I feel ecstatic right now. But, we got to take it one game at a time. Looking back I said the SCCAL was our goal; then the CCS was our goal. Now a state championship is our goal,” Watkins said.
The Sharks couldn’t shake the Eagles throughout most of the first half and they clung to a 27-25 lead entering the second quarter.
After that, the Eagles’ shots stopped falling and St. Francis’ athleticism took over.
“They played their hearts out and they didn’t give up. I’d take them any day or any time of the week,” said Fresno Christian head coach Jon Penberthy.
Several Sharks expressed respect for a Fresno Christian team that featured 12 seniors.
“They’re a good team. It was hard to keep up with them early. They’re very quick,” said Gallo, who was also named to the SCCAL First Team.
“A lot of work was put in on this game. We did a lot of studying on them,” Ibarra, a second team SCCAL player said.
Senior point guard Sandor Rene Rodriguez scored nine points and applied the ball handling and distribution that earned him the SCCAL’s Most Valuable Player award.
The student section, dressed in white tee shirts, was buttressed by youngsters who emotionally clung to every shot and celebrated with as much enthusiasm as they could muster.
“We never had a crowd like this. It’s the biggest we’ve had here. We had a good crowd at the CCS final too and they carried over here,” said senior guard Dominic Figueroa.
Aside from the emotional boost, the Shark’s homecourt advantage saved them a potentially long trip, such as the Eagles long trek from Fresno.
“It’s a big plus that we didn’t have to travel and we won’t need to travel after this game. Homecourt advantage is a really big for us and we plan to take advantage of it,” Rene Rodriguez said.
Senior Daniel Walker led the Eagles with 25 points.
Editor’s Note: Bryce Stoepfel is a student intern from Cabrillo College working at the Pajaronian through the Pat and Rowland Rebele Fund.
