Padres pull away for win

“Our (2015-16) state tournament team lost to this [Burlingame program],” said Carson, who is filling in for an ailing Chuck Rapp and who has been with the Serra program since the 2006 season.

“When I told them that, their eyes were big.”

The Padres must have been wondering what kind of ju ju the Panthers held over them in Burlingame. The Panthers came flying out of the chute, knocking down their first three 3-pointers for a quick 9-0 lead.

Burlingame led after the first period and also at halftime. The Padres finally got their offense going with a 24-point third quarter and then used a 8-2 run at the start of the fourth to pull away for a 62-55 win over Burlingame Friday night.

“We knew they could shoot,” Carson said. “Our defense needed to create some offense.”

As Serra (3-2 overall) is wont to do, it came out flying to start the second half. Down 28-23, the Padres bolted their way to a 24-point third quarter as they shot 9 for 12 from the field.

In the fourth, the Padres forced Burlingame (6-3) into four turnovers to help give the Padres some breathing room early in the fourth. Serra — which didn’t take its first lead until the 3:08 mark of the third quarter on a Damon Lewis baseline drive and layup — was up four, 47-43, going into the final quarter. Lou Martineau scored off a swooping drive to the basket for to open the scoring in the fourth as Burlingame closed to 47-45.

But a reverse layup from 6-9 center Muti Shuman started an 8-0 run for Serra. Ryan Wilson followed with driving layup for a 51-45 lead.

And then came the backbreaker for Burlingame. Serra’s Lewis stole an inbound pass and went for a layup and when Jevon Jesus finished at the rim, the Padres had the biggest lead of the night, 55-45 with 4:45 left to play.

“Damon Lewis came off the bench and was all over the court,” Carson said.

Lewis, one of four football players working their way into basketball shape, finished with 10 points in his season debut.

Ryan Wilson led the Serra offense with 13 points, while Antonio Abeyta added eight.

Serra maintained its 10-point cushion for the next two minutes before Burlingame put together one last push. A Sean Richardson 3 cut the Serra advantage to 58-51 with 2:15 left. Will Uhrich added a pair of free throws and when Tyler Mausehund converted a layup with 1:09 to go, the Panthers were just down five, 60-55.

Burlingame could not complete the comeback, however, and Serra escaped with the win.

“All year, our defense has been great,” said Burlingame head coach Jeff Dowd. “[Friday we] kind of let down. Our help defense wasn’t as good.”

Not even 12 3-pointers was enough to carry the Panthers to victory. And they started hot. Uhrich hit a pair of 3s, sandwiched around a Lou Martineau trey, as the Panthers built a 9-0 lead. Mausehund drained a fourth 3 of the quarter and Martineau capped it with his second 3 as Burlingame led 15-9 after the first quarter.

Uhrich would go on to finish with a game-high 16 points.

“Uhrich was unbelievable,” Dowd said.

Martineau, however, was relegated to the bench for the entirety second quarter as he picked up his third foul with under a minute to play in the opening period. The Panthers most certainly could have used his scoring as Serra found its footing in the second, outscoring Burlingame 14-13 and trailing 28-23 at halftime.

“We shot the ball well at the beginning,” Dowd said.

Martineau started the third quarter and picked up his fourth foul less than two minutes in. He returned to start the fourth and saw his night end with 6:39 left in the game with his fifth foul.

“[The foul trouble on Martineau] really hurt us,” Dowd said. “He was the one guy (who) was a matchup problem (for Serra).”

It really showed in the third quarter as Burlingame went nearly two minutes between points. Serra’s Abeyta filled that time by going on a personal 8-0 run. He knocked down back-to-back 3s as Serra closed to 33-32. He followed with a steal and layup to give the Padres its first lead of the game, 34-33.

“We fought,” Carson said.