Basketball roundup: Santa Rosa beats College Park 64-61

In the span of five hours on Tuesday, the Santa Rosa High boys basketball team lost its head coach and shook off that news to defeat visiting College Park, 64-61.

John McGill resigned in the afternoon and the team was told in a meeting after school that assistant coach Richard Clark would be leading the program.

“I was going to retire after last season,” McGill said. “My wife (Lynele) and Richard Clark persuaded me to come back for one more year.

“However, as this season started, I wasn’t 100-percent committed to the job,” he said. “It got to be a grind and my heart wasn’t in it. Most of the hard work that needs to be done every season had been completed and it was the right time to step away. People don’t understand what a commitment it is to coach. I’m ready for a lifestyle change. I have a business to run and I also want to do more family things. I’m walking away feeling like I left the program in a better place than when I took the position.”

McGill and his wife attended the game and sat behind the Santa Rosa bench.

McGill was in his sixth year leading the program. Clark has been the junior varsity coach for three years and became McGill’s assistant at the beginning of this season.

As for the game, College Park led 30-27 at halftime and upped the advantage to 50-44 heading to the fourth quarter.

Santa Rosa started the final period with an 8-2 run to pull even at 52-52.

With a minute left, the Panthers were clinging to a narrow lead. Then Isaiah Steele made a basket and Andre Gaudreau converted four consecutive free throws to secure the victory.

New head coach Clark said the team followed the game plan.

“We knew College Park liked to play up-tempo,” he said. “We wanted to control the clock, limit their possessions and crash the boards. The guys did that and we wound up with the win.”

Steele led the offense with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Kalei Aukai contributed 13 points and five boards, while Gaudreau finished with 12 points and seven rebounds.

In other boys basketball action Tuesday:

MONTGOMERY 59,?CASTLEMONT 43

At Oakland, the Vikings outscored the home team 16-3 in the second quarter.

Montgomery led by 10 points at halftime and pulled away by outscoring the Knights 18-12 in the fourth.

“I thought our defense was the key to the game,” coach Zac Tiedeman said. “Ryan Merriken was our most consistent defender and Riley O’Neil protected the paint.”

The Vikings played man-to-man the entire game.

Montgomery’s Alex Soria led all scorers with 23 and Merriken chipped in with 12.

ANALY 62,?SAN MARIN 40

At Sebastopol, the Tigers nailed 23 of 25 free throws while improving their record to 4-0.

“Our rebounding and defense were better than in some of our earlier games,” Analy coach Brett Page said. “In the first half, most of the time San Marin was getting only one shot.”

Connor Waldo came off the bench to give the Tigers a lift. “He made several big shots, got a few rebounds and played good defense,” Page said.

Dominic Tripodi led the Tigers in scoring with 15. Jordan Armstrong and Aidan Toner-Rodgers finished with 12 apiece.

PETALUMA 62,?SAN RAFAEL 51

At Petaluma, Joey Potts came up with a double-double to lead the Trojans. Potts scored a game-high 24 pounds and hauled in 11 rebounds. Also for Petaluma, Brendan O’Neill scored 12, two more than Colin Stremalu.

“We were a little careless with the basketball,” coach Scott Behrs said. “However, we got stops when we needed to and then hit several baskets at key times in the game.”