Priory pounds the Knights

“We’re preparing for the Open Division, so we have to play these type of games,” said Priory head coach Buck Matthews.

But they had reeled off four wins in a row since then as the Panthers opened West Bay Athletic League Foothill Division play. Last week, they buried Notre Dame-Belmont, 50-17, before notching their biggest win of the season thus far, knocking off Northern California power and perennial WBAL title contender Pinewood, 40-39.

After that, it was two-non league wins over the weekend against two North Coast Section contenders — 50-33 over Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland Saturday and 48-46 over Piedmont Monday.

If there ever was a trap game for Priory, it was Tuesday’s road game against a Menlo School team that came into the game with a gaudy 11-3 overall record.

Turns out Matthews had nothing to worry about. The Panthers led wire-to-wire, completely shutting down the Knights and notching a 55-15 victory.

“Absolutely,” Matthews said when asked if he had to guard against a letdown against Menlo. “I told [my team] to get ready for league again.”

The Panthers have proven the last several years they are one of the top programs in the Central Coast Section. With the core of three seniors — Ugreat Daniels, Jordyn Moss and Adelaide Chan — Priory has qualified for the CCS Open Division and the Division I Nor Cal brackets the last three years.

And yet, it was freshman Shay Johnson who scored a game-high 13 points to lead Priory as all nine players on the roster got in the scoring column. Chan and Sasha Johnson each added nine points for the Panthers.

While an impressive resume looks good, Matthews understands that winning league championships is the easiest way to the postseason and Priory (3-0 WBAL Foothill, 11-5 overall) stayed undefeated in league play.

It took a while for the Panthers to get going. When Menlo’s Anika Shah drained a 3-pointer with 3:47 left in the first quarter, the Knights were down only three, 8-5. Priory proceeded to end the period on a 10-0 run to boost its lead to 20-5 entering the second.

The turning point was the Panthers turning to their full-court press. Without a skilled, confident ball handler, Menlo (1-2, 11-4) struggled to get the ball into the front court, at times taking 30 of the 35-second shot clock to get into its offense.

With only a nine-player roster, Matthews has to be judicious with his press.

“I like to do it to change the tempo of the game,” Matthews said.

Priory scored the first four points of the second quarter to open up a 24-5 advantage. Menlo, meanwhile, simply struggled to maintain possession of the ball, turning the ball over twice and having the ball stolen on three of the Knights’ first four possessions of the period.

Sophia Longinidis hit one of two free throws to give Menlo its first points of the quarter. Two minutes later, Shah hit one.

But the Knights went more than eight minutes between field goals as they trailed 32-9 at halftime.

After that 20-point first quarter, the Panthers slowed down offensively. They scored 12 in the second and outscored the Knights just 9-5 in the third quarter to lead 41-14 going into the fourth.

Matthews chalked that up to some fatigue.

“We’ve played five games in seven days,” Matthews said. “I’m giving them practice off (Wednesday).”

In the fourth quarter, Menlo was limited to just one made free throw as the Knights managed only five field goals for the game. Priory, meanwhile, finished with a flourish as they got their running game going over the final six minutes. The Panthers finished on a 14-0 run, opening up a 55-15 lead with 2:39 left and finishing the game with a running clock with the 40-point lead.

“I was a little disappointed in the drop off the last few minutes,” said Menlo head coach Ryan Cooper.

For Cooper, it was a chance for his young team to get a look at a top-tier team in the CCS, one he thinks will benefit his squad down the road.

“Priory has always been tough. You can’t simulate (that kind of play) in practice,” Cooper said. “The goal is to play our best basketball in late February.”