Jefferson boys' basketball team goes big as season winds down

Cruz couldn’t help himself though. And why not? Even though he sat the entire third quarter — as Falabella cycled through 15 available players on his varsity roster — he locked back in en route to scoring a game-high 13 points as the Grizzlies outscored Oceana 49-15 over the final three quarters.

“When my team needs to score, I pass the ball,” Cruz said. “But when my team’s not scoring, that’s when I take over.”

Cruz’s shooting rhythm was needed early on. The two teams locked in to a frenetic ballyard tempo in the opening quarter. Undermanned Oceana — with just seven players available on its roster — was without its top player, transfer junior Dylan Sanford, a 6-3 transfer out of Riordan. And Jefferson has long been notorious for its wild style of play.

The two teams barbed in the first quarter with three lead changes. The Sharks seesawed ahead 11-10 with 2:42 to go in the period with a scrappy possession, capped by a perimeter 3-pointer by Christian Parangan. But the Grizzlies took the lead right back on a pair of free throws by senior Vins Ramirez and finished the quarter on a 7-3 run.

Then Cruz wrestled the game into submission in the second quarter. The senior opened the quarter with a crisp sidestep 3-pointer to up Jefferson’s lead to 20-16. But the real showstopper was a dribble-drive layup midway through the period in which he turned against the momentum of his right-handed dribble to cut around a defender and beat him to the bucket for a kiss off the glass.

“When Isaiah’s going good, the team is going good,” Falabella said. “It’s kind of been like that for the past two years.”

Oceana simply ran out of gas and did so from a fairly early stage. When Parangan hit a baseline jumper with 7:33 to go in the first half, it kept the Sharks at 17-16. However, Oceana would go the next 22 minutes, 33 seconds without scoring a field goal.

Oceana first-year head coach Dan Johnston said fatigue was a factor, as it was last Friday when the Sharks managed to keep Jefferson closer, losing by a mere 14 points.

“Oh, of course,” Johnston said. “You could tell. In the second half they weren’t even excited to get off the bench. Normally with like four minutes left, they come out and shoot, and they weren’t. And that’s the other problem. When we played them on Friday, we had them. We were right there. But I’m riding three players all game long and come the fourth quarter we just couldn’t hold it.”

Julian Harris Perigo scored a team-high 11 points for Oceana, including six in the first period. It was his perimeter 3-pointer with 1:08 to go in regulation, amid a running clock, that broke the field goal drought for the Sharks.

“We have a very bad habit of getting stuck in a quarter of the court and not rotating the ball at all,” Johnston said. “Players are wide open on the other side but it’s high school. Those defenses are just swarming over us and now we’re playing like 2-on-5, or 2-on-4 … on a quarter of the court. And our team is doing that way too much.”

Eleven different players got in the scoring column for Jefferson. Jordan Taylor totaled 11 points, including three 3-pointers, while Tariq Byrd came off the bench to net eight.

The merged division composed of the Jefferson Union High School District and the South San Francisco Unified School District closes Friday. Jefferson will complete the season having played six games.

“I know the guys were itching to play for a long time,” Falabella said. “They thought we’d have no games. This is kind of a miracle in and of itself that’s playing out. I think the guys are cherishing every moment, whether it be a practice moment or a game moment or a bus ride to a game.

“Our 11 seniors are cherishing every moment and personally I’m cherishing every moment because, for me, I coach with my heart,” he said. “And a big part of what I do is because of my love for Jefferson, and because of my love for my players. And it would have been very sad for this season to go without any games because they’ve been dedicated, and they deserve to have a season. Having six games is better than none, of course we want more. But I’m glad that we are playing at least a few.”