Top-seed Carlmont ousted in CCS Division I boys’ basketball semifinals

With just two seniors in the playing rotation — neither of whom played during the shortened 2020-21 spring season — the youthful Scots became third Carlmont team to reach the CCS semifinals. The program previously advanced as far in 1984-85 and 2018-19.

“It’s outstanding for such a young group,” Carlmont head coach Ron Ozorio said. “We have two seniors, and both of them didn’t play varsity basketball last year … and we have a freshman sixth man. So, we learned a lot on this trip. So, kudos to them for playing so hard all year. They were outstanding. And the growth. I think we learned a lot from tonight also. I’m just super proud of our guys.”

The Scots (16-8) looked energized heading into halftime. They finished the first half on a 5-0 mini-run, to cut Alvarez’s lead to 33-30. But the Eagles set a blazing tempo to start the second half, led by point guard Eric Green. Alvarez’s star senior netted a game-high 25 points, 11 of which came in the third quarter.

“That was definitely a good one, one that we needed,” Green said. “We usually do get our runs in the second half. The first half sometimes we start off slow, not coming out running. We’ve got to run the floor.”

Carlmont opened the second half in a 0-for-10 funk from the field.

“We were ready to come out and then that third quarter we didn’t really hit any shots, and they went on a run,” Carlmont senior Tripp Garrish said. “So, our morale kind of dragged a little bit.”

The husky senior Garrish grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds, and the Scots went on to out-rebound the Eagles 47-41. But the Alvarez pressure defense was simply too much to handle for Carlmont.

Fueled by the 3-point shooting of Carlmont senior Luke Paterra, the lead changed hands five times in the first half. Paterra scored a team-high 15 points, including four 3s. But the turnover bug started to bite, and the Scots started to lose their grip on the scoreboard. Carlmont committed 22 turnovers in the game, six of them in the second quarter.

“Turnovers ignited the break for them,” Ozorio said. “So, a lot of those transition baskets were because we were throwing it away. So, turnovers ultimately were the problem. And that falls back to our youthfulness. The spotlight was a little bright for a lot of the guys.”

The Eagles set a tone in the paint with senior forward Gabriel Perez grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds, nine coming in the first half, including six in the first quarter.

With Carlmont trailing 33-25 with less than a minute to go in the half, Paterra buried a corner 3 on a transition break. Alvarez tried to push is back the other way but missed a hurried layup, and the Scots were able to capitalize by playing for the last shot when junior point guard Nate Wong whipped a pass underneath to Matthew Abiezzi for a layup at the buzzer.

But Alvarez’s complex zone defense took it to another level after the break.

“It was hard,” Wong said. “They were double-teaming on us the whole time — tough to get shots up. And we missed a lot of shots because of their defense.”

When the Scots could get the ball inside, they did well to score. Freshman big man Tyler Southworth finished with 11 points and nine rebounds, while Garrish netted eight points.

“They were right up in your face, and they were going to trap you,” Garrish said. “So, it speeds you up a hundred miles an hour and you’re obviously going to make mistakes. We don’t face that a lot in our division.”

After the Eagles’ big run to start the half, the Scots could not again cut the deficit to single-digits. Alvarez junior guard Jalen Brown balanced the floor with 18 points, while Perez notched a double-double, scoring 12 points to go with his 12 rebounds.

“I thought we played hard,” Garrish said. “We just started the third quarter, the shots didn’t fall, we made a couple turnovers; they really played hard, and their defense was always tough, and they liked to trap. So, it caught us off guard sometimes. But I thought we played hard. Stuff happens like that.”

Now, Alvarez will advance to the CCS Division I finals Saturday to host No. 3 Menlo-Atherton. M-A took down No. 6 Los Altos 46-34 in the other Division I semifinal.

In the CCS Division III semifinals, No. 2 Burlingame took down No. 6 Sobrato 61-35. The Panthers now advance to Saturday’s finals, and will host No. 4 Aptos at 7 p.m.

In the CCS Division IV semifinals, No. 3 Menlo School rolled to a 61-45 win over No. 2 King’s Academy in Sunnyvale. The Knights now travel to No. 1 Palma for Saturday’s finals. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m.