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ATHERTON — Menlo-Atherton went on a 9-2 run to close the first half with a seven-point lead, and went on from there, dictating tempo in the second half in a 55-42 victory Saturday over Christopher in a matchup between a pair of teams in first place in their respective leagues.
M-A (12-3) utilized its trademark aggressive defensive approach to force 18 turnovers, 12 in the decisive second half.
“We’re getting better defensively,” M-A coach Mike Molieri said.”That was something I was concerned about with this group earlier in the season.”
After first telling his team he wouldn’t allow them to pick up full-court until they played better defense in the half-court, Molieri ceded to the wishes of his players and allowed them to extend their defense in the second half.
“They’re the ones playing, not me, so I said, ‘Let’s do it,’” Molieri said. “I’m OK about freedom as long as they show discipline.”
The change worked well as the Bears went on a run to up their lead to 17. Jalen Williams sparked that run, scoring eight consecutive points on a three-point play, a pair of foul shots and a 3-point field goal, to increase their lead from 39-30 to 47-30.
Williams finished with a game-high 14 points.Grant Zell added 10 points for the Bears, making two 3-pointers.
“We’ve got a lot of athletes, we’re entertaining,” Molieri said. “As long as we keep getting better we’ll be fine.”
M-A has been among the best public-school boys basketball programs in the Central Coast Section for a number of years. The Bears have gone 151-50 under Molieri since 2016 and won a CCS Division I title last year. They are 4-0 in Peninsula Athletic League South Division play this season, tied for first place with Hillsdale and Burlingame.
Adam Sax, who previously coached at Palo Alto and Piedmont Hills, is in his second season at Christopher. After going 19-8 last season, the Cougars are off to a 13-4 start this time around and in first place at 4-0 in the Blossom Valley Athletic League Mt. Hamilton-East Division.
Scheduling the non-league game with M-A was designed to help his team raise its level. Despite the loss, Sax said he expects the experience to benefit his team.
“They’re a high-caliber team so I tried to schedule them,” Sax said. “Their speed, the way they trap, they’re a higher level team than we see in our league.”
Christopher stayed in the game thanks in part to a seven-point advantage on the foul line. The Cougars went 15 of 23 from the charity stripe while M-A was 8 of 17.
“We need to get a free-throw doctor here,” Molieri said. “That’s been part of our struggles. We’ve got to figure it out. I think free throws are just a mental thing and these guys have really got to focus. We’ve lost two games on the free-throw line. In the postseason games get a lot tougher and we’ve got to be better.”
Chigozie Okeke led Christopher with nine points. Sophomore Braddock Kjellesvig, playing limited minutes after an injury in a win over Leland the previous night, scored eight.
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