Breakers celebrating CCS Div IV Championship over Carmel
– Jon Charron –
With the chants of “MVP!” in the back ground, junior Brad Sendell led Pacific Grove to their first CCS Championship in 18 years, with a 48-34 victory over cross-town rival Carmel on Saturday night. [03-05-16]
It couldn’t have been a better way for the Breakers to end the CCS tournament, saving their best play of the tournament for their local rival. After needing overtime to move past North Monterey County in the quarterfinals and a fourth quarter rally to be beat Monte Vista Christian in the semis, the Breakers never trailed in their finals victory.
One key to the Breakers victory was controlling former MTAL MVP, John Stivers of Carmel. After tallying 21 points and 9 rebounds in the first meeting between the two teams, the Breakers held him to just 12 points and 5 rebounds the second time around.
Zack Miller and Chip Wagner hounded Stivers the whole game, not allowing him much room to breathe. Stivers didn’t score his first points of the game until he made a couple of free throws to start the second quarter. Overall, they held him relatively in check, he finished the game with 15 points and 5 rebounds, but only 6 of his points came from the field.
“He’s a heck of a player,” Pacific Grove head coach Brad Powers said. “You kind of just need to give him the respect he deserves, and that’s what we tried to do. Just try to help on him. I thought we did a poor job the last time we played him and that was my fault.”
The reigning league MVP was difference maker again for the Breakers, finishing with 24 points in the game. Every time Carmel seemed to get a little momentum, Sendell was there to quiet them down and regain the momentum for themselves. “He’s clutch,” Powers exclaimed. “He’s one of the best players in the section. We ride him for a lot of things and he always comes up. He’s a game.”
The Breakers started out strong for the second straight game. They scored the first 11 points of the game before the Padres could get on the board. With 1:57 left in the first quarter Marco Ginngoiorgi hit a 3-pointer for the Padres.
In the second quarter, the Padres picked things up a little and held the Breakers to only 8 points in the quarter, but Sendell found an open Gaurav Gurung in the corner for a big three. The Breakers would take a 23-15 lead in to the half.
After Carmel came out of the half and made a basket, Sendell hit a 3-pointer to push the Pacific Grove lead back to 8. After a John Stivers basket with 1:20 left in the quarter to cut the lead to 6, Gaurav Gurung hit another 3-pointer for the Breakers.
Carmel would get no closer, as the Breakers would close out the game strong. “We had three good days of practice,” Powers said. “And the preparation just helped us a lot.”
Sendell was almost speechless after the game ended, saying that “it’s a dream come true right now. [Winning the championship] was our goal at the beginning of the season and to accomplish that… I’m still trying to grasp it, it’s amazing.”
Pacific Grove will now await seeding in to the NorCal Div IV tournament, which is being held on the evening of 06 March, 2016.
| Box Score |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
Final |
| Carmel |
3 |
12 |
8 |
11 |
34 |
| Pacific Grove |
14 |
8 |
10 |
16 |
48 |
Stats –
| Player |
FG M-A |
FT M-A |
3PT M-A |
REB |
AST |
ST |
BLK |
PTS |
| Brad Sendell |
4-10 |
9-10 |
2-7 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
23 |
| Apollo Marquez |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Uche Ebo |
1-1 |
0 |
1-1 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
| Jake Merenda |
0 |
0 |
0-2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Gaurav Gurung |
0 |
0 |
2-3 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
6 |
| Zack Miller |
3-5 |
3-3 |
0 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
9 |
| Sam Fenstermaker |
0-1 |
2-3 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
| Chip Wagner |
0-1 |
3-4 |
0-1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
