Serra stymies Valley Christian in fiery WCAL opener

A 6-5 senior, Killingsworth turned in a Draymond Green-like performance, notching a double-double with 16 points and 15 rebounds. But it was his passing and defense, along with his post presence, that sparked the first-quarter surge; he totaled four assists in the game with three coming in the opening eight minutes.

“I’ll just do whatever it takes to win,” Killingsworth said. “Whatever the team needs me to do, I’ll do. A lot of the time it’s scoring, but tonight we got that from [Jeremiah Testa, Miles Todzo and Jack Wilson]. So, I’ll do what I have to do to get them the ball.”

Indeed, the Padres got good scoring balance from the starting five. Testa was a force to the cylinder, especially early, scoring six of his 15 points in the first quarter. Todzo and Wilson added nine points apiece in the game.

In the opening minutes, however, it seemed as though Valley Christian (0-1, 8-2) might run away with it. After Todzo opened the game with a three-pointer out of the corner, the Warriors went on a quick seven-point run, prompting Serra head coach Chuck Rapp to take a timeout just a minute and a half into the game.

Serra emerged reinvigorated out of the timeout huddle, scrapping with a pressure defense that kept Valley Christian off the scoreboard for the final 6:30 of the quarter.

“I think it started with our defense,” Rapp said. “We were making them take tough, contested shots. They were having trouble getting anything to fall for a while, and we kept the pressure on them. I think it all started with that.”

It took nearly another minute for the Padres to put the ball in the hoop, but when they did there was no stopping them. Wilson sparked the 18-point run with a lay-in. Then Testa — who missed wildly on his first two attempts of the game — finally got it going with a sweet baseline glide to tie it 7-7.

Killingsworth took the ball right back with a steal as Valley Christian attempted to cross midcourt, then fed Testa on a cut for an easy lay-in to give Serra a 9-7 lead.

Testa and Todzo each scored again before Killingsworth slammed home his first points of the night to better the lead to 15-7. Henry James then took a steal to the steel, and later converted from the stripe. Then Cole Galli came off the bench to score the final bucket of the quarter off an assist from Todzo, giving Serra a 20-7 lead midway through the first half.

The Warriors — who subbed so persistently, they started the second quarter with a completely different look — finally broke the spell when Justin Kidd came off the bench to convert the first points of the second quarter. But Serra kept the pressure up by ramping up its dominance on the boards.

Not only did the Padres outrebound the Warriors 42-22 in the game. Serra’s well-balanced post presence increased its rebound total in each quarter, with nine in the first, 10 in the second, 11 in the third and 12 in the fourth.

One of the most momentous rebounds of the night came from Killingsworth with 2:45 remaining in the first half, as he smashed through for an offensive board and a put-back to cap a six-point run, increasing Serra’s lead to 29-11. But five different Padres grabbed rebounds in the quarter, including three by Testa, who finished the night with six boards.

With Serra in the driver’s seat in the second half, Killingsworth kept the pedal to the metal in the third quarter, totaling eight points and five rebounds. The Padres took a 50-36 lead into the fourth quarter, then emptied the bench with two minutes to play.

“It’s big coming out the first game of league right,” Killingsworth said. “We knew they were going to come out with pressure, so we were ready.”

Valley Christian senior guard D.J. Burgess led all scorers with 25 points, while David Garza added 14.

Riding a seven-game winning streak — in which they have outscored opponents by an average of 19.7 points per game — the Padres head into the belly of the beast of archrival St. Francis in Mountain View Friday at 7:30 p.m.

The matchup reunites Killingsworth with two of his AAU club teammates. Following his junior season, Killingsworth and Serra teammate Lee Jones played for Lakeshow AAU Basketball with St. Francis’ formidable tandem of 6-5 forward Noah Stapes and 6-10 center Peter Hewitt.

“It will be so fun,” Killingsworth said of the matchup. “It will be a good game.”