San Diego Playoffs: Class of 2021 shines for Dons
SAN DIEGO – The Cathedral Catholic boys’ basketball team started four sophomores and a junior on the floor Tuesday night for its home CIF San Diego Section Division 1 Tuesday night against La Jolla Country Day Torreys. The…
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Continue ReadingSAN DIEGO – The Cathedral Catholic boys’ basketball team started four sophomores and a junior on the floor Tuesday night for its home CIF San Diego Section Division 1 Tuesday night against La Jolla Country Day Torreys.
The relative youth bodes well for the program’s future. The Dons have an opportunity to challenge – likely – St. Augustine to be the best in the county a year from now.
For Coach Will Cunningham’s crew, the future is now – as in a Friday night (8 o’clock) championship game with Francis Parker in UC San Diego’s RIMAC Arena.
The Dons fell to Coach Jim Tomey’s team, 62-61, on Dec. 1.
But all of those 10th graders have without question made considerable progress in two-plus months, as the 64-55 victory (improving their record to 22-9) showcased.
*Six-foot-eight Obinna Anyanwu showed he’s still among the best of the post players in the western Class of 2021, despite missing eight of his nine shots from the floor in the first half.
But he demonstrated some assertive low-post offense after intermission, hitting four of six shots and three of four free throws while finishing with 14 points, 17 rebounds and three blocked shots.
*Six-four Thomas Notarainni has scored more than 1,000 points already (he was presented with a plaque noting that before the tip-off) hit five of his nine first-half shots, including two 3s, to help his team take a seven-point lead at intermission.
Off the drive . . in transition . . . and via jump shots, Notarainni was mostly un-guardable for most of Tuesday night, hitting seven shots in a row over a third-to-fourth quarter stretch while finishing with 30 points;
*Point guard Alex Wade hit just four of 15 shots from the floor and missed front ends on two 1-and-1s in the fourth quarter but, otherwise, handled all of his floor-leader’s duties with 10 points, six rebounds, six assists and four steals;
*And 6-7 Dillon Willhite may have missed both of his shots from the floor and was blanked on two free throws in the fourth quarter but finished with nine rebounds and four assists.