Boys basketball: Carr scores 21 in the fourth, lifts Redwood into semifinals

The Acalanes High basketball team had to be feeling pretty good about itself late in the third period of Friday’s North Coast Section Division I quarterfinal contest.

Afterall, the Dons had recently won their first Diablo Athletic League title in 17 years and had rolled through the first two rounds of the NCS playoffs.

Acalanes, the No. 7 seed, also held a commanding 12-point lead against No. 2 Redwood with barely more than a quarter remaining.

A peaceful, easy feeling for sure – that is, until the Dons were blindsided by a runaway Carr.

Redwood’s Cal-bound star senior guard Semetri Carr poured in 21 of his game-high 41 points in the fourth quarter and the Giants pulled away late for a 62-52 victory in Larkspur.

Redwood (21-6) advances to Tuesday’s semifinals when it will play No. 6 Amador Valley (21-9) at 7 p.m. in Larkspur.

“There were a lot of ups and downs in this one,” said Carr, who also pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds. “In the second half, I was just hungry. I wanted to win this so bad. I kept thinking this couldn’t be my last game.”

Carr, the obvious leader of a scrappy Redwood squad, said he asked a lot from his teammates at halftime trailing by eight points.

“I asked them to give 110 percent in the second half – and they gave 150 percent,” Carr said. “They gave everything.”

While an array of Redwood players swarmed the defensive end in the final period, Carr did what he does – and that’s score points.

Carr knocked down five field goals in the final eight minutes, including three from three-point range. Every bit as impressive was his nine-for-nine fourth-quarter performance from the free-throw line, especially after he had missed three of six in the third period.

“I was maybe just taking the free throws for granted,” Carr said. “They’re free throws and I know how to make those. Sometimes you just have to lock in.”

Redwood coach Jay DeMaestri admitted he experienced some nightmares in anticipation of the quarterfinal matchup against an extremely tall Acalanes squad, especially with his solid 6-foot, 7-inch post Simon Leonard sidelined with an injury for the second consecutive outing.

“But it really came down to the team that wanted to win most was the team that wins,” DeMaestri said. “The team played great defense and from there we just put the ball in our best player’s hands.”

Senior guard Noah Tanaka broke out of his two-game shooting slump with 10 points, including a corner three-pointer early in the fourth quarter which gave Redwood its first lead of the game at 45-44.

In fact, those were the last points Redwood scored in the game by a player not named Carr. Redwood never trailed again.

“We started pressuring the ball at halfcourt and got a couple of steals. They panicked a bit and we took advantage,” Tanaka said. “Defensively, we knew we had to step it up in the second half. We use our speed, quickness and intensity to play good defense.”

Tanaka said the team is always inspired by Carr and his relentless pursuit of victory.

“He’s definitely a good leader,” Tanaka said. “Once he gets going, he gets all of us going.”

The Giants started to inch away in the final two minutes when Carr touched the sky for an offensive rebound and tucked away his follow-up shot.

The wheels started falling off for the Dons.

An offensive foul and turnover were followed by three of four missed free throws.

Meanwhile, Carr kept sinking free throws, cool and collected.

With 23 seconds remaining, Carr pounded the final nail in the Acalanes coffin with, of course, two more free throws.