CCS hoops: Gators bite Cougars in the end

They grow 'em tough in Half Moon Bay, where the kids are routinely buffeted by stiff ocean gusts, angry sea birds and sandy playing fields.

But Atherton has its mean streets as well -- in a fashion. And the meanest is Valparaiso Ave., where the athletic shoes are expensive but the competition is gritty and fierce. Case in point is Sacred Heart Prep, which prevailed in a hard-fought boys home basketball playoff game on Saturday, 63-62, over the coastsiders.

The Gators (14-11) move on to the Central Coast Section Division IV second round on Tuesday, where they face No. 2 seed host Pacific Grove at 7 p.m. 

SHP forward Jai Deshpande led SHP with 17 points, and teammate Brendan Carney had 14 points -- five points in the fourth quarter, including the go-ahead free throw with 4.4 seconds remaining in the game -- to lead the Gators.

After HMB tied it at 62 with a corner 3 with 9 seconds left, SHP took the inbounds and quickly got it to Carney, who headed straight to the hoop.

"My intention was to go to the basket unless someone was wide open for a shot," the senior guard said. "Their guy (HMB's Sorie Syme) stepped in to take the charge, but I knew I had him stepping a little bit to the side and didn't hit him square. I knew I probably had the call."

The ref called a block, and Carney hit the first of two free throws -- then played solid defense on the other end -- to provide the win.

It was the first time he can remember being the hero -- in a big game, anyway. 

"Our coach (Tony Martinelli) has us play eight-minute games at the end of practice," Carney said. "So those usually come down to the end. We have a lot of pressure free throws because we take those scrimmages seriously."

Carney has faced plenty of tough situations on the mean street -- Valparaiso is also the home of St. Raymonds, where he attended grammar and middle school. In fact he was a starting guard on a team that won four consecutive Peninsula Parochial Schools League overall titles (fifth through eighth grades).

The coach? His dad, former St. Francis point guard Sean Carney.

"Brendan has always been an introvert; he's the quiet one," Sean Carney said. "Being one of four boys it was always tough for him to stand out at home. His game was always kind of that way as well."

But this past summer Brendan hit the gym with a vengeance, and went from 160 pounds to 188.

"He worked out with the football guys and got a lot stronger," his dad said. "He just blossomed." Carney indeed went from shrinking violet to shooting star -- leading his team this season in scoring (342 points), 3-pointers (64), and finishing second in rebounds (105).

In addition to Deshpande on Saturday, SHP was led by 6-foot-3 junior center Charlie Selna's 14 points and 12 rebounds. It was Selna who did the most to keep the Gators on track when the Cougars would go on their three or four scoring runs.

It was 30-30 at the half, and SHP began to break away with 6:15 left in the game on Selma's put-back with 6:01 remaining that made it 51-45 Gators.

But helped by an effective full-court press, HMB came back to tie it in the final seconds.

Syme and Mykola Ediger had 17 points each for the Cougars.

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