Shane Suttles took the court ready to work for his points inside. Andrew Foster, Wyatt Rocheleau and Evan Shapiro looked eager to attack the rim.
Together, the quartet helped Christopher High’s boys basketball team make an imprint in school history Tuesday night.
“They’ll tell their families about this game someday,” Cougars coach Kaden Bahner said.
Suttles scored 25 points, Foster had 18 points, and Rocheleau and Shapiro scored 16 each to help Christopher roll to an 85-63 home win over Gilroy in the first round of the Central Coast Section Division III playoffs. It was the first CCS playoff meeting between the crosstown rivals.
“Just a lot of pride, it came out for us,” Suttles said.
Christopher (11-14) advanced to play at Monterey (11-13) in the second round at 7 p.m. Thursday.
A layup by Travis Moulden helped Gilroy (10-15) pull within 47-41 early in the third quarter, but the Cougars closed the game on a 38-22 run.
Gilroy was never able to fully recover from the first half, when Christopher used a 13-0 run stretching from the first quarter to the second to build a 23-10 lead.
“Credit to Gilroy. Those kids battled,” Bahner said. “I have a lot of respect for (coach) Tim Jones and his kids, and they’re nice kids. When you beat an opponent like that who’s giving you a run for your money, there’s a sense of accomplishment.
“As for our kids, they’re ecstatic right now.”
Shapiro scored 14 of his 16 points in the first half to help the Cougars build a 41-31 halftime lead.
“Evan Shapiro had a phenomenal first half,” Bahner said. “Evan really carried us. We had a lot of guys who contributed, but he just took control of the game.”
Rocheleau made sure the Cougars finished strong, going 7-for-7 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter to finish 10-for-10 from the foul line for the game.
“They played a great last 5 minutes of the game,” Bahner said.
Suttles, a 6-foot-4 junior center, teamed with forwards Dillon Day (eight points) and Samaki Johnson (two points) to help the Cougars dominate in the paint.
“I can’t say enough good things about Shane,” Bahner said. “He has been able to adapt to different defenses this year. He’s a very agile player for his size.”
Senior swingman David Gonzalez led Gilroy with 27 points.
“I just got hot and kept driving to the basket,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez also made three 3-pointers.
“David’s been phenomenal all year,” Jones said. “He’s been the guy who’s kind of led us. While not leading outwardly, he leads by the actions he takes.”
Tommy Cox had 13 points, and Moulden and Brendan Holler scored eight each for the Mustangs.
Gilroy put together a five-game winning streak on its way to a 7-5 finish in the Monterey Bay League Pacific Division, good for third place.
“They put their minds to it game after game, and down the stretch we got ourselves in the playoffs,” Jones said.
