Analy overcomes poor shooting night to win

<p>SEBASTOPOL — It took Analy three quarters to get untracked. When the Tigers finally got going they had 1,800 rabid fans on their feet and out of breath.</p><p>The sell-out crowd Friday night saw the Tigers overcome a terrible shooting night and a determined Drake team to post a 49-44 second-round North Coast Section Division III playoff win.</p><p>Now the Tigers, who won their 16th consecutive game, will play host to a semifinal game Wednesday against the winner of the Bishop O’Dowd-Dublin game. O’Dowd, the No.1 seed must travel to Analy because the No. 4 Tigers were a league winner.</p><p>Down 33-29 and struggling entering the fourth quarter, the Tigers put together an electric 10-0 run to lead 39-33, and then outplayed the Marin County Athletic League co-champs down the stretch to improve to 24-6.</p><p>The key baskets in the run were 3-pointers by the Tigers two top 3-point shooters, Kevin Aronis and Max Fujii. Then in the final two minutes the Tigers made several huge defensive stops, the biggest coming with 1:05 left.</p><p>Fujii picked up a loose ball, fed Gavin Winter at mid-court and Winter found Corey Daley alone under the basket for an easy score that put the Tigers up 47-42. It was Daley’s only points on the night.</p><p>“This was the most exciting game I’ve ever played in,” said Daley, who did a good defensive job on Dillon Sabia, the Pirates top scorer. “We were missing shots early that we usually make, but we came together as a team. We didn’t want to stop playing.”</p><p>Analy led twice in the first half, once in the first quarter on a 3-point basket by Fujii and again in the second quarter when Fujii flipped in a runner on the baseline to give the Tigers a 15-13 lead.</p><p>On the Pirates next possession Sabia nailed a jumper to knot the score at 15-15. Mike Mahoney gave Drake the lead with a pair of free throws. Analy’s Isias Alcantar capped the scoring with two foul shots to end the half with the Pirates on top 20-17.</p><p>Alcantar also did some good work in the third quarter with two back-down jumpers to keep the Tigers close.</p><p>The Tigers shot miserably in the first quarter, making only 1-of-14 attempts. The Pirates led 11-7 after one and 20-17 at the half.</p><p>During its 16-game winning streak, Analy has averaged nearly 71 points and surrendered less than 42. The fewest points the Tigers had scored before Friday night were 50 in a four-point win against Petaluma in the Sonoma County League tournament title game.</p><p>“We knew we could hold them defensively,” said Analy coach Bret Page. “We felt they wouldn’t score more than 50 and their defense wouldn’t be able to stop us. They did do a good job of getting back and making us play in the half court.”</p><p>The Tigers have exceeded the 80-point mark in the streak three times, a rare occurrence in high school basketball, which plays eight-minute quarters. The Tigers’ winning differential in the streak was a plus 29, a gaudy number in any league.</p><p>The key to the Tigers scoring and the fundamental reason for a 24-win season, is balance. Fujii averages 13.5, while Aronis scores at a 12.2 clip. Winter chips in with 10.8 points a game. The Tigers also get consistent scoring punch also from Alcanter, Jackson Stogner and Jordan Guerinoni.</p><p>Page doesn’t hesitate to use his bench at any point in a game and gets solid contributions from everyone he puts on the floor. A perfect example was Mike Prince, who saw limited minutes, but came in late in the fourth quarter and had two big follows for baskets.</p><p>Drake tied Branson for the MCAL championship with a tidy 12-2 record, losing in overtime to Branson. The Pirates defeated Analy, 55-54, in a non-league game early in the season.</p><p>Page said he remained confident even when the Tigers were missing shots and couldn’t get over the hump and take the lead.</p><p>“I never had a doubt,” he said. “I don’t know what triggered it, maybe it was Gavin (Winter) pounding away. The wanted to slow it down and we beat them at their own game.”</p><p>Fujii had a team-high 14 points. Winter had 10 and Aronis, after a slow start, finished with 7. Alcantar had six. Sabia had 14 and 8 rebounds for the Pirates, but he had to work hard against Daley for his points.</p>