Boys Basketball: Branson gets scare, but rolls on in NorCals
The Bulls scored a big and convincing victory Tuesday night to kick off their run for a Northern California championship, but they suffered a major scare late in the second half.
Jase Butler hobbled off the court at Dominican University on crutches after the Branson School rocked Granite Bay, 63-39, in the first round of the CIF NorCal Division II playoffs.
Butler scored a team-best 17 points, despite leaving the game late in the third quarter with a sprained ankle. Branson head coach Stevie Johnson hopes Butler will be available for Thursday’s second-round game against No. 7 seed Saint Francis.
Saint Francis advanced Tuesday with a 82-75 victory over No. 10 University, the NCS Division 4 champion.
“Butler will do what he can to get better, to get to 75 percent, in the next 48 hours,” Johnson said. “If he can’t play, then we’ll go to the next man up on the bench. There’s no room to dwell on it.”
Looking down the bench, Johnson sees Andrew Parrot, Liam Kilroy and DJ Jones as key members of the supporting cast.
“We need at least two of those three to step up and play hard,” Johnson said. “They’re all good players, but if we can get two of them playing even better, that’s what we need. Or if we can get even one of them to be great, that would be a big help.”
All three saw playing time down the stretch as Johnson emptied his bench in order to rest his starters with the game already well in hand. Parrot finished with two points and four rebounds, while Jones had two points and two rebounds. Kilroy did his work around the paint, rebounding and creating space around the basket.
The relatively spacious arena at Dominican University created some challenges for both teams early on. The court seemed bigger than the floor at College of Marin, where the Bulls played most of their home games this season, according to Johnson, who added his players tired quickly while running sprints on the Dominican court in practice the day before.
After 8 minutes of even competition, the Bulls went on a 14-0 run to open the second quarter, with half those points coming from Butler. George Gale sparked the run with a dunk, then Joaquim Arauz-Moore pick-pocketed a Grizzlies player and took the ball to the hoop for a layup.
“I thought in the first quarter we played well, but our defense could have been better,” Johnson said. “We saw that improve as the game went on.”
The Bulls’ defense spoon-fed their offense, as Branson made the most of its possessions with quick drives from one end of the court to the other to find the basket. Branson was feeling comfortable at halftime with a 32-19 lead.
Semetri Carr hit three 3-pointers and came up with 15 points and four rebounds for the Bulls. Gale scored 13 points to go with seven rebounds and Arauz-Moore finished with 12 points, four rebounds and two steals.
Carr, Butler and Arauz-Moore generated a powerful offense when they were on the court together. They combined for a nine-point run early in the third quarter to give the Bulls a 20-point lead. Branson led 48-24 when Butler fell to the floor clutching his ankle. Losing one of their leaders took some of the electricity out of the Bulls’ game, but Butler’s teammates soon regained their touch to make sure Granite Bay never rallied.
After the game, Butler’s teammates all came to check on him, and to celebrate the victory with him before refocusing on the challenge that lies ahead.
Arauz-Moore was a sophomore on the 2020 Branson squad that lost a 55-53 heartbreaker to Sacred Heart Prep in the NorCal quarterfinals.
“It’s great to be back in NorCals,” he said. “My role now, I’m trying to get the guys ready. We’re coming off a big win for the NCS title and we’re starting to realize how good a team we are.”