Boys basketball: Sharpshooting Archie Williams has eye on title

Less than a month into the basketball season, there was already a playoff atmosphere in San Anselmo on Friday night as Archie Williams High welcomed San Rafael in a challenge of two teams with title hopes.

The Peregrine Falcons and Bulldogs finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the MCAL regular-season standings last year. This season, they are both making the push to emerge from the middle of the pack to the top of the heap. Both teams entered the game with winning overall records, and 2-0 marks in league.

“After a game like this, I think we showed we can surprise a lot of teams,” said Henry Sethre, who hit four shots from beyond the arc on his way to a 14-point night for the Peregrine Falcons. In all, the Falcons (6-3, 3-0 MCAL) outshot the Bulldogs 8-3 from 3-point territory during Friday’s 55-42 victory over San Rafael (5-2, 2-1).

“We’ve been preparing for this game for the past week,” Sethre said. “I’ve been working on my 3-pointers and we’ve been working on getting good shots.”

Sethre’s impact was obvious on the scoreboard and in the energy of his teammates, who worked hard to get him open shots.

“(Sethre) hit those 3-pointers early, and that was tough because that’s a big part of our defense, not allowing the 3-pointers,” said San Rafael junior Marcos Tolliver, who finished with 12 points, five rebounds and three blocked shots.

Meanwhile, the Peregrine Falcons’ Jonathan Bear dominated the scoresheet with a game-high 17 points, all from inside the paint. Junior Owen Bugas finished with 10 points, and senior Seamas Coghlan hit three 3-pointers for nine points, five rebounds and three steals for Archie Williams.

After a back-and-forth start to the showdown, the Falcons hit a series of 3-pointers, with two from Sethre and one from Coghlan, to take a 16-12 lead by the end of the first period. San Rafael continued to battle during the game, but Archie Williams never surrendered its lead.

“We had some good looks at the basket and we pressed San Rafael on defense,” Sethre said. “We have a lot of respect for those San Rafael guys as a team. We knew we had to keep up the pressure.”

Just as it looked like the Peregrine Falcons were about to seal the game early after Sethre hit another 3-pointer midway through the second period, the Bulldogs started to fight back. San Rafael freshman Luke Shapiro, who finished with 11 points, hit back-to-back 3-pointers to bring the Bulldogs back to within one point, as the Falcons led 23-22.

Another 3-pointer from Coghlan sparked a nine-point run to close out the first half with Archie Williams leading 32-22.

“We didn’t start well,” Tolliver said. “We have young group of guys and we need some time to pull the team into shape.”

Archie Williams padded its lead to as much as 19 points in the third period, outscoring the Bulldogs 17-6. But again San Rafael came charging back, this time with a quick outburst to start the fourth period that brought the Bulldogs to within 11 points. The Bulldogs continued to chip away at the lead, but the tenacious Archie Williams defense ultimately kept them at bay.

“This game was for first place, and I think we came in excited and a little nervous,” Tolliver said. “We’ve got to correct our mistakes and carry on.”