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Sports

BOYS BASKETBALL: St. Francis Bests Leigh in CCS Semis

Longhorns magical season ends against defending section champ.

St. Francis 53, Leigh 46

The Stars: St. Francis senior guard Kenny Harris Jr. scored 14 points and center Chris Chang came through with a crucial team-high 17 points. The bruiser feasted down low off missed shots and finished several nice interiors feeds from guards that were able to get into the teeth of the defense.

St. Francis defeated Leigh 53-46 in the first of two Central Coast Section Division II Boys Basketball semifinals played at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills Tuesday night.

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Deven Patterson and Sohn Nijor each had nine points for the Longhorns in the loss. Both players dealt with foul trouble throughout the ball game.

The Turning Point: Still just a four-point game in the fourth quarter, an Ivan Margaretic 3-pointer rolled its way home, putting the Lancers ahead 42-35 with five minutes left to play. On the very next possession, Chang converted an up-and-under finish on the break off a Longhorns turnover to extend the advantage to nine points. Nijor would foul out moments later, forcing Leigh to play without one of its top gunners the rest of the way.

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The Quote:  “Their definitely a physical team,” Leigh junior Trevor Peterson said after the loss in the semis to St. Francis. “They play in a physical league. We just didn’t hit our shots. We had our chances tonight.”

 Leigh finished the year with a 24-4 record overall. The Longhorns semifinal run was one that Peterson will never forget.

 “It’s been fun,” Peterson said. “Our first goal was to win league and then get to CCS. We wanted to see how far we could get. It was a great group of guys to play with.”

 What's Next? The all-West Catholic League Division II final between St. Francis and Mitty is the nightcap at Santa Clara University Friday night. Tip-time is set for 8:30 pm. Mitty handled Palo Alto 61-39 in the second semifinal bout Tuesday night.

 Bottom Line: Only down 30-27 at the half and by just four going into the fourth quarter, Leigh settled down on the defense end after a fast-paced start to the game. Once the Lancers couldn’t get out and run, the game slowed down and both defenses kicked in. Turnovers, foul trouble and missed shots ended the CCS finals dreams for Leigh, but there’s plenty of hope for the future. Despite losing all-league performers Deven Patterson and Sohn Nijor to graduation, Leigh returns Trevor Peterson, Connor Peterson and Scotty Guyon. Promising underclassman Jared Williams and Kyle Morrison will also step into more important roles as sophomores.

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