Sacred Heart Prep Gators crowned CCS boys’ basketball champs

Saturday, Braccia achieved another goal as Sacred Heart Prep was crowned the Central Coast Section Division IV champions after holding off King’s Academy for a 62-48 victory.

“It was a bunch of joy and just gratitude, specifically for the people that helped put it all together,” Braccia said.

The last goal on Braccia’s list is a state championship. And the most experienced player on SHP’s varsity roster has one more year to chase the goal when he returns as a senior in 2021-22.

“My big goal next year is to go on a CCS run, a state run, and just do right by the Sacred Heart Prep community,” Braccia said.

For now, his performance in the CCS finals will have to do. And what a clutch performance it was.

Braccia scored a game-high 23 points, including a pair of pivotal 3-pointers in the second half to counter a late surge by TKA. After leading by double digits for much of the first half, the Gators saw their lead dwindle when King’s Academy senior Noah Short began getting his legs under him.

Short was a three-sport athlete this spring, playing football before moonlighting between baseball and track. So, Saturday proved to be the busiest of days as Short competed in the Central Coast Section track and field qualifiers in the morning before suiting up for the CCS basketball finals that evening.

“Noah Short probably got the ball in his hands more than we wanted and got to the line, and got some other guys involved as well … and it got a little closer than we would have liked,” SHP head coach Tony Martinelli said.

The Gators innovated a rotating man defense to contain Short. The senior scored a team-high 12 points.

“The job that Ryan Wong, Teddy Purcell, Jake York and JP Kerrigan did on him … just sticking to that game plan was a big key to winning that game,” Martinelli said.

But TKA opened the second half on a 15-4 run to tie it 37-37. The Knights got a stop and had a chance to take their first lead since the game’s opening minutes. SHP got a stop of its own, though. Then at the other end, Braccia got freed up near the top of the 3-point arc to break the tie with a momentous 3.

“I probably shot it from deeper than I should have ... but I felt like I was in a rhythm and so I shot it, and I was happy it went in,” Braccia said.

The Gators finished the third quarter on a 5-0 run. TKA kept it close in the opening minutes of the fourth. Antonio Gonzalez scored a 2 to make it a one-possession game at 42-39. Again, the Knights got the ball back and got a clean look at a corner 3, but the shot was off the mark and Braccia came down with the rebound.

SHP pushed the ball up the court and once again set up Braccia for a 3, getting the ball to him in the corner. The junior knocked down the shot setting off a 7-0 run. And the Gators enjoyed their march to the CCS crown as they converted free throws down the stretch.

“We’ve kind of thrived in these moments and lived for these moments … and we just kind of calmed down,” Braccia said.

Senior forward Harrison Carrington added 16 points for SHP while Purcell had eight. Sophomore center RJ Stephens grabbed 10 rebounds. Braccia finished with seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.

“The winning part is kind of the cherry on top,” Martinelli said. “But being able to play was the goal the whole time and we were able to do that. So, that was a real positive.”

It was a displaced year with basketball being moved from the winter to the spring due to the coronavirus pandemic. And it was a shortened schedule, though the Gators managed to cram 22 games into the season since the April 19 opener.

But the nonseniors will keep on trucking into summer. The SHP summer league team opens play this weekend. And for serious players like Braccia, the cub circuit is beckoning. In July, Braccia joins the West Coast Elite Nor Cal squad on the AAU circuit.

Braccia said he expects to be back at SHP in August for the customary open gyms prior to the start of the school year. And the expectation is for the COVID pandemic to be all but behind us by then, according to Martinelli.

“Our expectation is to be at full strength with kids back to their regular cadence of full sports with full seasons,” Martinelli said. “That’s just the way we’re looking at it right now … and I don’t see us going backwards.”