WBAL Basketball Action

By Rick Eymer/Palo Alto Online Sports
Sacred Heart Prep 87, Crystal Springs Uplands 37
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Matt Peery scored 22 of his game-high 34 points in the second half and the Pinewood boys basketball team handed visiting Menlo School its first league loss of the season, 74-59, Tuesday night.

In other WBAL action, Sacred Heart Prep opened a 29-point first-quarter lead en route to an 87-37 victory over visiting Crystal Springs Uplands.

Priory overcame a slow start to edge host The King's Academy, 47-44, to shave a game off its deficit to the Knights.

Eastside Prep ended up on the right side of a back-and-forth game with host Harker on Tuesday, beating the Eagles, 55-47.

Eastside (15-6, 6-5) began to inch away from Harker in the fourth quarter. It was tied at halftime and Eastside grabbed a thin 37-34 edge heading into the fourth quarter.

As for Pinewood, Peery was a little queasy to start the second half, though going on a scoring spree certainly pumped him up.

A great start and a good finish catapulted the Panthers (13-8, 6-5) past the Knights (13-7, 10-1).

Pinewood never trailed in the game but it was tied at halftime at 31-31. The Panthers nearly doubled that with a 30-point third quarter. Peery scored 14 of those points.

Junior Connor Riches added 20 points for Pinewood, which has won six of its last eight games.

Menlo junior Thomas Brown nailed seven 3-pointers and finished with 30 points, scoring more than half of Menlo's points.

Brown's efforts were important since the Knights played without Joe Foley and the Panthers made a concerted push to deny Riley Woodson, the WBAL's leading rebounder, holding him to 13 points and 10 rebounds, his ninth double-double.

"I thought we did a good job matching their physicality this time," said Pinewood coach Jason Peery. "(Pinewood Junior) Bo Fick did just an amazing job, he was an unsung hero tonight."

Pinewood travels to second-place Priory (16-5, 8-3) on Friday night.

In their last meeting, Pinewood beat Priory in overtime, 80-74, with Peery pouring in 33 points.

"We know we're going to have to be focused on Friday night," Jason Peery said. "They (Priory) are a solid team and I'm sure it's going to be an exciting atmosphere."

Nico Arslander scored 11 points to lead Priory past The King's Academy.

The Panthers found themselves in a hole early, managing five points in the first quarter. They continued to slice into the Knights' lead the rest of the way, taking the lead for good in the fourth quarter.

Ayo Aderboye added 10 points and Emmanuel Ajanaku-Makun and Grant Phelps combined for another 17 points.

With Pinewood's win, Priory is within two games of Menlo with three to play. The Knights host rival Sacred Heart Prep (11-10, 7-4), which has won four of its last five games, on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

The Gators were coming off a four-point loss to Priory and were in no mood to allow the Gryphons to hang around, putting on a clinic in the first quarter and opening a 36-7 advantage.

Sacred Heart Prep took a 56-18 edge into halftime, before calming down a tad in the second half.

Eric DeBrine led The Gators with 18 points, one of four players to reach double figures.

Tevin Panchal added 11 and both Ryan McWilliams and Kyle Schott netted 10.

Kyle Cody made three 3-pointers and combined with Evan Nichols and Simon Koeten for another 27 points.
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Sacred Heart Schools Atherton

Sacred Heart Schools, Atherton

150 Valparaiso Ave
Atherton, CA 94027
650 322 1866
Founded by the Society of the Sacred Heart, SHS is a Catholic, independent, co-ed day school for students in preschool through grade 12