Mills mauls Cap

One of the most underrated players in the Peninsula Athletic League, Wong once again displayed some savvy skills that should get him looks from junior college coaches. The senior played another fabulous floor game, finishing with six assists and four steals and committing only three turnovers. This game - played in front of a spirited overflow audience befitting of a Central Coast Section championship game — produced six ties and eight lead changes in the first 12 minutes alone.

Capuchino (10-17 overall, 4-10) had the nice inside-outside combination of Suave Piutau and Joe Dieterle working. The two combined to score the team's first 16 points. But after the Mustangs' Geoff Harris tied things at 18 with an eight-foot jumper midway through the second quarter, the Vikings (4-10 PAL South) ran their rivals back to San Bruno.

Mills outscored Capuchino 39-20 the rest of the way to win going away. The Vikings went on an 11-2 run to end the second, capped by Mario Flaherty's two free throws with 24 seconds left until halftime. After a virtually even third quarter, Mills made things a runaway by outscoring Cap 17-8 in the fourth. Wong hit a layup and moments later Chris Del Bianco went in for a layup off the fast-break to give the Vikings a 50-36 lead with 2:06 left.

How good did things go for Mills? Late in the third, Marty Armenta connected on a 15-foot jumper after a pass from a teammate that was heading out of bounds hit a referee on the back before ricocheted straight to Armenta.

"There was a lot of emotion in this gym, and you have to give credit to Mills," Capuchino coach Francisco Pepin said. "They came in pretty fired up and have really improved since the last time we played them. I thought they did a nice job of adjusting after we were able to feed Suave inside. For the most part, we've competed well this season and I'm proud of the team for that."

Pepin said he will petition to get into the Central Coast Section playoffs. Any team with a .500 record overall or in league play is eligible for the playoffs. Although Cap doesn't meet the required criteria, Pepin noted St. Francis' inclusion into the postseason a couple of years ago when the Lancers didn't meet the guidelines.

"This is the last year you can petition, and I think we have a 50-50 chance with our strength of schedule," Pepin said.

Dieterle scored a game-high 17 points, while Piutau added nine. Mills had scoring balance all across the board, with Armenta, Del Bianco, Antonio Dillon, Flaherty, Shawn Eschols and Jimmy Donahue combining for 42 points.

"I feel like I've put in four hard years, so it's nice to get rewarded in your final game," Wong said. "We had a losing record, but it was a good year. We doubled our win total from last season and we've been playing the best we've had in the last two years."