GILROY—Xavier Smith knocked down a shot as the clock faded out on Friday’s home finale against Seaside—and the gym went into a frenzy.
It was a storybook ending for Smith, who has seen limited time this season, as he scored the final points in Christopher’s 69-47 win over the Spartans. And he was beaming as he stood on his home court following the game for the last time in the regular season.
“I knew I had to get it up there,” Smith said. “I’m glad that TJ (Cox) was very unselfish in giving me the ball.”
The Cougars as a whole were unselfish. They displayed stellar passing, which translated into baskets for almost every player on the roster. Nine different players scored for Christopher against Seaside.
“We’re just super excited,” said senior Chad Hartman, who led Christopher with 17 points. “I’m glad that everyone could get in the game and glad that those seniors that don’t normally get to play got a chance to show what they can do out here.”
Emotions were high as the Cougars fought for one last win on their home court and as the Spartans battled to keep a streak that spans nearly three decades alive. The last place Seaside team has reached the Central Coast Section playoffs for the past 27 seasons and now risk falling into lower Monterey Bay League-Pacific Division.
“These games are always scary and I’ll tell you why,” Cougars coach Dan Mooney said. “It’s Senior Night. There’s so much excitement and emotions—especially for those seniors graduating. Some of them might not do this ever again. You really want to be clear in your judgment. There’s so much stuff involved.”
Christopher opened with back-to-back-to-back three pointers, all from seniors. Alex Pacheco fed the ball to TJ Cox for the first before scoring his own 3-pointer. Dillon Day then found Hartman for another to put the Cougars up 9-0.
A couple steals and a defensive adjustment put Seaside right back in the mix. Jerard Evans took a shot for the Spartans at the buzzer that fell just short, but his team was within striking distance, trailing 11-8 at the end of the first.
But not for long.
Baskets from Thomas Ellis and Xander Bowers helped Christopher score seven answered points to take a 21-10 lead early in the second quarter.
Chris Burnet came off the bench and was a force defensively. He grabbed multiple rebounds to give his team extra chances and even scored twice to widen Christopher’s lead to 29-17 late. Burnet tallied eight rebounds in the game.
Bowers found Brendan Zollinger for the Cougars’ final score of the half and then came up with a big block on Seaside to give his team a 31-21 lead at the half.
“We’re just a family and we want to play hard for each other,” Hartman said. “We want to give other teammates open shots. We don’t play for ourselves, we play for our teammates.”
Christopher struggled with rebounding early in the third quarter, allowing Seaside to maintain possession for more than a minute straight. Pacheco regained possession for the Cougars by pulling down a big rebound and scoring while still on the move. That play was just what the doctor ordered as Day grabbed multiple offensive rebounds—and put them right back in the basket—to help his team to a 45-32 lead after three.
“It’s a perfect way to go out as seniors,” Day said. “We knew it was our last (home) game. We knew we were going to leave it all out on the court.”
Bowers put more distance between the Cougars and Spartans in the fourth, scoring 10 of his 15 points in that frame. He was just as stellar defensively, tallying 14 rebounds and block.
Cox posted nine points and Day was close behind with eight. Day also had eight rebounds, a steal and a block.
The win puts the Cougars at 15-7 overall, 5-5 in league play. They look to further cement their spot in the Central Coast Section playoffs and hand Palma its first league loss at 7 p.m. Wednesday on the road.
“In that game, I’m telling my guys we’ve got nothing to lose,” Mooney said. “You’re looking at a group of kids that knows how to win.”
