Boys Basketball: San Ramon Valley Fends Off Pesky Logan

San Ramon Valley 56, James Logan 37

The Star: San Ramon Valley's Mark Tollefsen had a game-high 19 points, including three three-pointers in the win.

The Turning Point: After being outscored by Logan 15-6 in the third quarter, SRV broke open a 10-point third quarter lead, going on an 11-2 run to start the fourth quarter and put the game out of reach.

The Quote: "This was not one of our better games as a team," SRV coach John Raynor said on his team's win.

What's next? The Wolves will play Deer Valley on Dec. 28 in the St. Francis Holiday Classic in Mountain View.

Bottom Line: The size and strength of SRV paid dividends down the stretch for the Wolves, as it out-gunned Logan for the win.

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If the boys basketball team is going to make a run deep into March, it's going to have to rely on its arsenal of weapons. It has solid guard play, a deep bench and a high-flying big man who can shoot from the outside.

Mark Tollefsen is that lethal weapon.

The senior poured in 19 points, including nine from beyond the arc in the Wolves' 56-37 win over James Logan on Saturday in the Cougar Classic in Newark.

The 6-foot-9 big man found his stroke early, helping SRV jump out to an early 18-4 lead, connecting for two big three pointers, and a two-handed dunk off a missed jump shot.

"Mark had some big moments today for us," SRV coach John Raynor said. "He has always been a big rebounder and a great shooter."

The Wolves (9-0) continued their torrid start, taking a commanding 34-11 lead with two minutes, 24 seconds left in the second quarter courtesy of baskets by Tollefsen, Bryan Marvin, Conner Kavorkian and Jordan Giusti.

From then on, the smaller, faster Logan made things difficult for SRV as it created turnovers on steals, and forced the Wolves offense to start near midcourt.

The Colts (5-6) went on an 11-2 run to start the third quarter capped off by a Larry Jones three-pointer, cutting SRV's deficit to ten, 36-26. But a Kavorkian jumper and an alley-oop jam from Guisti to Tollefsen got the ball rolling once again for the Wolves.

SRV would then go on an 11-2 run of its own to start the fourth quarter, and turn a close second half into a rout.

"They are a very scrappy, quick team, and they cause a lot of turnovers," Raynor said. "This was not one of our better games as a team."

Logan's Jones finished with 18 points in the loss.

"He is a good ballplayer, he can shoot from the outside and create problems for teams," Raynor said of the Logan guard.

Kevorkian finished with 12 points for SRV, while Guisti added 11 in the win.

"I thought we played well in the first half, we were making the plays that we had to," Tollefsen said. "The second half was a different story. We needed to toughen up and get rebounds. Coach Raynor told us we needed to be big time on the boards, to control the rebounding game, and we would have success."

With the win, the Wolves stay unbeaten as they head into their showdown with a very good Deer Valley team on Dec. 28 at the St. Francis Holiday Classic.

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San Ramon Valley 56, James Logan 37

James Logan (5-6)                6  9 15  7 – 37

San Ramon Valley (9-0)    21 13 6 16  – 56

INDIVIDUALS

Logan(fg ftm-fta tp) – Jones 7 2-3 18, Puno 1 2-2 4, Murphy 0 2-2 2, Kaye 3 0-0 6, Masulit 1 0-0 3, Rosales 2 0-0 4, Dhahan 0 0-2 0. Totals 14 6-9 37.

San Ramon– Kevorkian 5 1-2 12, Giusti 5 1-2 11, Marvin 1 0-0 2, Garrett 1 2-2 4, Holliday 2 0-2 4, Kapulica 0 4-4 4, Tollefsen 8 0-0 19. Totals 22 8-12 56.

3-point goals: Logan 3 (Jones 2, Masulit). San Ramon 4 (Tollefsen 3, Kevorkian)

Fouled out: None.

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