SLO boys outlast Santa Ynez 63-51 in a battle for the top spot in the Ocean League
In a battle of the top two teams in the Ocean League, San Luis Obispo trailed Santa Ynez 29-28 at halftime before a huge run in the fourth quarter carried the team to a 63-51 home win on Friday night.
The Tigers (15-7, 6-1 Ocean League) took over first place with the win while the Pirates (14-4, 5-1) dropped their first league game and slipped into second place.
The game was the first matchup between the two teams, who won’t meet again until Feb. 10 in the league finale.
Out of the gate, the Tigers pressed full court and jumped out to a 9-0 lead. The Pirates responded with an and-one play and crawled back into the game.
Then, in the second quarter, the Tigers struggled to keep possession of the ball.
“We had all the momentum and then in that second quarter, I think we had four turnovers in like a five-possession span,” Head Coach Jeff Brandow said. “A lot of them were just careless like an over and back and throwing the ball out of bounds.”
A late layup off another Tigers’ turnover put Santa Ynez up one heading into halftime.
But the Tigers came out of the break with intensity on the defensive end and sped the Pirates into consecutive turnovers to take control of the game.
“One of the things we struggled with all year is when we make mistakes, until tonight, we haven’t shown that maturity just to keep playing. We’ve kind of hung our heads,” Brandow said. “Tonight was really the first time where the young men wearing the Tigers jersey just kept playing and kind of that next play mentality.”
One of the key players in the Tigers’ turnaround was senior forward John Raj, who finished with 12 points.
“I think my job, I see it as just being like as much of a team player as I can,” Raj said. “They shoot the ball and I’m rebounding. I love it. I think it’s like it’s one of the most dirty parts of the game, but it’s also one of the best and most rewarding.”
Brandow appreciated Raj’s presence on the glass.
“His rebounding was amazing. No. 5 from Santa Ynez is one of the best rebounders I’ve ever seen at the high school level, and I thought John competed.”
In the fourth quarter, the Tigers had a10-point lead with 3:41 left, but after getting blocked, Tigers guard Eli Rooney the ball back and converted an and-one.
That sequence shifted the momentum, and the Tigers’ lead ballooned to 19 points within a minute.
“We knew we could do this. We’ve been building up to all season so far. And losing to Nipomo earlier in the season like that was tough. So we had to come out and had to win all our next games, and so far we’re doing that and this was the biggest game so far,” Raj said.
The Tigers will take on Templeton at home on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.