Slow start dooms Serra

The Padres, though, have a knack of finishing strong. Over the last three quarters, they outscored the Lancers 42-40, including 18-12 in the fourth quarter. But St. Francis got off to a dominant start, winning the first quarter 19-4 and opening the game on a 23-4 run.

“They finally made some shots — right?” St. Francis head coach Mike Motil said. “We knew they were capable.”

St. Francis forward AJ Tennathur found the hot hand early, scoring a game-high 22 points, including four 3-pointers, while adding five rebounds, four assists and three steals, all team-highs. The 6-5 senior scored resembled Klay Thompson at times, popping out for quick 3s, connecting with his second one from the perimeter in the first quarter to give the Lancers a 19-3 lead.

The Lancers (3-2, 10-4) shot 52.1% from the field throughout, including 8 of 12 in the opening period.

While the Padres would climb back by way of the 3 ball to close it to 52-46 with under two minutes to go in the game, the perimeter game was the only offense they could muster in the first half. The St. Francis defense kept Serra out of the paint consistently through the early going. Only a 3 spree by sophomore Alton Robenault late in the half — he hit three 3s in the second quarter — gave the Padres any momentum going into halftime.

“I think we did good,” Robenault said of Serra’s ability to drive the ball. “We definitely can do better.”

Trailing 33-19 at the half, the Padres did just that in the second half. After turning over the ball on their first two possessions after the break, the Padres found penetration, with junior Ryan Pettis cutting to the hoop on a bounce pass from Tommaso Leveroni. Then senior center Seamus Gilmartin powered to the hoop for a post-up 2, making it 35-23.

Despite shooting just 32% from the field, the Padres manufactured second chances. While St. Francis outrebounded Serra 29-27 overall, the Padres totaled 10 offensive boards, five of them coming from senior Aidan Carleson, who finished with a game-high eight rebounds.

“The thing was we need to rebound better,” Motil said. “We have to rebound better. Their rebounding kept them in the game. We need to do a better job.”

Then Padres got going from beyond the arc with some 3-point magic from Robenault. The sophomore would hit just one more 3 in the game, a late corner splash to make it 52-46 with 1:36 to play. But the Padres were 5 for 8 on 3s in the fourth quarter, with Robenault assisting on three of them, two by Pettis and one from Carleson.

“I know [Pettis] is capable of doing it, I’ve watched it happen,” Motil said. “I know the other guys are too. They were just looking for the hot hand. I’d seen [Robenault] make shots before, so I just told the guys and the kid started making shots.”

“I don’t know, I just go out there and do my best every possession,” Robenault said of stimulating the late 3-point run.

But the Lancers answered back with a dagger 3 from Tennathur, and senior guard Andrew Adkison followed with a steal as St. Francis closed on a 7-0 run.

St. Francis senior Gavin Everett finished with 10 points.

Next up, the Padres host Valley Christian (1-3, 6-8) Friday night. Tip-off at Morton Family Gymnasium is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.