Serra can’t recover from second-quarter landslide

Then a landslide second quarter by the Lancers (2-0 WCAL, 10-2 overall), in which they scored 23 points, buried the Padres under a 65-52 loss, the first of their WCAL slate.

“It’s early, so we’re not really worried about one loss right now,” Serra senior Denzel McCollum said.

What Serra (1-1, 9-3) should be worried about is its ability to put the ball in the basket. Challenged by St. Francis’ pressure zone, the Padres forced shots early, which unraveled their ability to knock down open looks late. Serra shot just 32.2 percent from the field (19 of 59), including 2 of 16 from 3-point range.

“I was probably more disappointed with giving up 65 points,” Serra head coach Chuck Rapp said. “Because there’s nights where you just can’t put the biscuit in the basket … and I thought our defense didn’t hold us up because we’re able to win games like this in the past here at Serra because we defended well. And I thought we had too many defensive breakdowns. So, just a bad day all over.”

The breakdowns were rampant in the second quarter. And St. Francis guard Roy Yuan was poised to capitalize. The junior knocked down five 3-pointers throughout, including three straight to spark a 12-2 run in the second quarter to swing the Lancers in front.

The Lancers shot 47.9 percent from the field, including 6 of 14 from beyond the arc.

“If you’re willing to give it to us, we’re going to shoot the basketball,” St. Francis head coach Mike Motil said. “If people aren’t going to come out and guard us, we’re going to let it go.”

St. Francis certainly doesn’t lack for confidence. Powered by senior point guard Logan Johnson — an animated and vocal presence who was already jawing at the officials just one minute into the game — the Lancers ran an aggressive dribble-drive offense to perfection.

The 6-2 Johnson notched a double-double with 17 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, but it was his second-quarter distribution — including assists on two of Yuan’s 3s — that changed the tide for St. Francis.

“When he gets downhill, he can be tough,” Motil said. “We put the ball in his hands and he needs to make good decisions. He realizes on some nights the paint is going to be crowded and he’s going to have to share the basketball and find people. He’s going to have to finish in different ways … and he keeps working on when to find, and when to finish.”

In terms of confidence, Serra may have been feeling a little too much in the second quarter. Senior guard Masie Mohammadi converted an and-1 early in the quarter to put the Padres up 18-9, but a rash of bad decisions on offense led to too many failed chances. Serra totaled just eight turnovers throughout, but four of them came in the second quarter.

“I think maybe we did get a little to comfortable,” Rapp said. “And sometimes that happens when you’re on a winning streak. We’ve won a couple games in a row and were playing really hungry early in the year … and I think the success kind of softened us. I think that we got a little too comfortable with ourselves and forgot it was the scrap that got us to the place we were and forgot the true character of this team.”

A Serra air ball on a finger-roll layup through too much defensive traffic, followed by two botched alley-oop tries, and St. Francis was keen to capitalize. When Lancers guard Maurice Wilmer — who totaled 15 points — hit a 19-foot jumper to close it to 18-15, Serra called a timeout. But just 30 seconds later, Yuen drilled his first of three 3s within two minutes time, giving St. Francis a 24-22 lead with 1:48 left in the half.

The Lancers never again trailed.

“Dribble penetration, we couldn’t stop that,” McCollum said. “We have weak-side help, but it just wasn’t there tonight.”

Rapp agreed much of Serra’s woes started with the ability of Johnson and the Lancers to drive at will.

“It was a little too easy for them,” Rapp said. “We didn’t deny lanes very well. And they were able to operate and do what they wanted. Give them credit, they made some tough shots too. Things were just too easy for them.”

Serra was led by senior Colin McCarthy’s 11 points. McCollum, senior Dillon Macaraig and junior Parker McDonald totaled eight points apiece.

The Padres got some good news this week with the return of McDonald, who missed two weeks after falling ill with mononucleosis. The junior returned to action Tuesday against Valley Christian, but his minutes have been severely limited. Friday, he had his best quarter in the fourth, including one of just two Serra 3-pointers with three seconds remaining.

Rapp said he couldn’t project when McDonald, one of Serra’ key playmakers, will return to full capacity.

“I don’t know,” Rapp said. “Mono is weird. It really zaps your strength. It could be awhile before he is at full (strength). He’s still playing himself into shape.”