March 5, 2009

Charger hopes dashed

Leland High School sophomore Justin Dueck forces a St. Francis shooter to rethink his move during the quarterfinal CCS tournament loss at Foothill College on Feb. 28. Photo by Kevin Jones

Cinderella Chargers make CCS quarterfinals

But lose to St. Francis 53-33

By Kevin Jones
Special to the Times

Before the season started, the Leland High School boys’ varsity basketball team was figured to wind up near the bottom of the Mount Hamilton Athletic League. The so-called experts could not have been more wrong. The Chargers finished the season with a quarterfinal CCS tournament loss to perennial powerhouse St. Francis, 53-33 at Foothill College on Saturday. Feb. 28.

The team wound up the season with a very respectable 17-11 record, which included a tie for third place in league play. That performance earned them a CCS first-round bye. Proving worthy of that bye, the Chargers wasted no time dispatching opponent Pajaro Valley in the Leland gym on Thursday, Feb. 26 by a score of 57-45.

Pajaro came out firing three-point shots from everywhere on the floor. It appeared that they were determined to live or die by the three-pointer and they did ultimately die by it. Leland ran out to a 19-6 first-period lead and it appeared the rout was on. Then the threes started to rain down and Pajaro pulled within three points at halftime. They even enjoyed a short lead at one point, but the Chargers were patient, stayed with their game and prevailed at the end.

Jake Peterson and Greg Hipwell had huge games scoring 21 and 24 points, respectively.

Leland player Jake Peterson shows the shooting touch that produced 24 points in a CCS win over Pajaro Valley. Photos by Kevin Jones

Next up was the quarterfinal CCS game against West Catholic League powerhouse St. Francis Lancers (26-2) at Foothill College.

This was a rematch of last year’s CCS game that pretty much turned out the same way for the Chargers. The final score was 53-33.

Leland junior Trevor Marino thwarts a St. Francis player's attempt at a lay up.

The Lancers proved to be very quick, physical and employed a stifling defense against which the Chargers struggled. It seemed that Leland was unable to get anything going or get into any kind of rhythm the entire game.

Adding insult to injury, sophomore center Justin Dueck went down in the second half when he got tangled up with a few Lancer players. The result was a cut cheekbone that sent Dueck to the bench for several minutes.

Despite the final score, the Chargers hung around most of the game keeping themselves in a position to keep the score close enough to come back. But it was not to be. St. Francis slowly increased their lead until they had the game well in hand.

However, the future bodes well for the Chargers because they are a young team and will have many returning starters next year. They include Trevor Marino, Alex Ramos, Justin Dueck, Ryan Smith, Jake Peterson and Kyle Walker. The team says goodbye to seniors

Greg Hipwell, Adam Mackey, Matt Vera, Spencer Hiura and Nico Talaugon.