Boys Basketball: Defensive Adjustments Essential to Pilots Win

St. Joseph 71, Piedmont 52

The Star: With starter Brandon Keane in foul trouble, St. Joseph's Garrett Rich filled in admirably with 12 points.

The Turning Point: Piedmont tried to match the Pilots tempo in the third quarter, which backfired spectacularly on the Highlanders.

The Quote: “He gets that team to buy into their defense better than most teams in Northern California,” Piedmont coach Chris Lavdiotis said of St. Joseph's

What’s Next?: St. Joseph next takes a trip to St Patrick/St. Vincent for a 7:00 p.m. game on Friday.

Bottom Line: The Pilots adjusted their defense in the second half to prevent Piedmont from getting to the foul line.

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was frustrated during the first half of play. They felt that all the calls were going against them and Piedmont ( 12-12, 2-8 Bay Shore Athletic League) was getting the benefit of the doubt time and time again.

In total St. Joseph was called for 14 team fouls, one of them leading to a technical against guard Jacari Whitfield.

“I was mad that the call was made, “Whitfield said about a reach-in he was called for.

The No. 5 Pilots (19-5, 10-0 BSAL) took note of all the fouls in the locker room at halftime. By adjusting their defense and pushing the ball harder on the offensive end, they were able to coast to the finish line with a 71-52 victory.

Piedmont's aggressiveness in the first half led to 27 free throw attempts. Of their 33 first half points, 21 of those could be attributed to the charity stripe.

“I think we surprised them because we were playing a different style,” Highlander coach Chris Lavdiotis said. “We figured we could be aggressive and draw foul calls.”

St. Joseph's could have been down by even more; star center Brandon Keane had to sit out in the first half due to foul trouble. Backup center Garrett Rich came on strong, however, and made sure the drop-off was minimal.

Rich had eight first half points and was also able to keep Piedmont center Max Elliot in check. Elliot finished with zero field goals.

The second half was a completely different story for the Pilots on both ends of the court.

Defensively speaking St. Joseph's toned down their physical play.

“When you play with some refs, you have to adjust,” Whitfield said. “They were calling it tight, and we adjusted a little late.”

That adjustment though was enough to take the Highlanders out of the game from an offensive standpoint. Piedmont only made six field goals in the final two quarters of play.

At the other end of the court the Pilots churned up the pace of their offense.

Whitfield was the beneficiary of several open looks that came from speeding things up. He had two open looks from long-range, both of which he was able to convert.

“I had to push it a little bit,” Whitfield said. “I was more aggressive with the way I was shooting. I saw opportunities and I took them.”

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 St. Joseph Notre Dame 71, Piedmont 52

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