Sports
Boys Basketball: Pilots Dominate, Win NCS Title
St. Joseph Notre Dame blows past University, 63-32.
St. Joseph Notre Dame 63, University 32
The star: Dominic Lippi led the Pilots with 13 points.
The turning point: St. Joe’s started the game on a 14-3 run and maintained control throughout.
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The quote: “These guys were at the state championship in 2009, and they lost. They want to get back.” -St. Joe’s coach Don Lippi
Bottom line: St. Joe’s turned in one of its most dominant performances of the season.
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St. Joseph Notre Dame was so dominant, so efficient, so unapologetically ruthless in its play Friday night that afterwards, even coach Don Lippi was surprised.
“I did not expect this,” Lippi said moments after the Pilots’ 63-32 win over University High in the North Coast Section Division V championship game. “That’s a very good team that we just beat.”
Friday the Pillots made the Devils look like a JV squad, unable to execute their offense and unable to slow the St. Joe’s attack. The Pilots pushed the tempo to warp speed, sprinting up and down the court while the Devils were unable to keep up.
“A couple weeks ago we realized we were playing too slow,” Lippi said. “We’ve really been working to push it. We have a good point guard who can run it. We have wings who can finish. We have a big guy who can rebound if we miss, so we need to push it.”
The Pilots’ success began with their defense, which swarmed and befuddled the Devils, causing turnovers and forcing bad shots. St. Joe’s was relentless in its half court pressure, rarely giving University room to breathe, much less take open shots.
“It started with our defensive intensity,” Lippi said. “We denied them shots and we made them turn it over.”
Now the Pilots will move on in their quest to win the Division V state championship. They’ve established themselves as one of the best teams in the Bay Area — regardless of classification — and they’ll rank among the favorites to win the state title in their small-school division.
“These guys were at the state championship in 2009, and they lost,” Lippi said. “They want to get back.”
St. Joseph Notre Dame 63, University 32
1 2 3 4 F SJND
23 16 13 11 63 University 9 7 3 13 32 Individuals — (fg ftm-fta tp) SJND
Whitfield 2 0-0 6, Lippi 3 6-6 13, Woods 3 0-0 6, Brown 1 1-2 3, Harding 1 1-2 3, Lacy 3 2-2 10, Givens 2 4-4 8, Keane 2 2-2 6, Rich 3 2-2 8, University Getz 1 5-6 7, Enriquez 3 3-4 11, Medoff 1 0-0 2, Springwater 3 0-0 7, Gale 1 2-4 5. Records: SJND 23-8, University 26-6. Boys Basketball, March 4, 2011 Follow Patch Sports East Bay on Twitter
