Boys basketball: Redwood clamps down on San Rafael, Shapiro

Redwood High’s must-do list was short for Monday’s opening round of the MCAL boys basketball playoffs against visiting San Rafael.

It started and ended with stopping San Rafael’s high-scoring guard Luke Shapiro.

So, after the Giants limited Shapiro to one field goal and nine points, it was not surprising No. 4 Redwood strolled away with a 54-36 victory against the No. 5 Bulldogs.

The Giants, last season’s MCAL champs, advance to Wednesday’s semifinals against regular-season champ and top seed Marin Catholic.

Monday’s final score was quite a step forward for Redwood (12-12) from earlier in the season when the Giants narrowly escaped with a 65-60 victory against San Rafael.

Redwood coach Jay DeMaestri said the difference was simply putting the clamps on Shapiro, who averaged nearly 30 points per game during the regular season.

“Max Monterastelli was guarding (Shapiro) most of the night and he did a phenomenal job on him,” DeMaestri said. “We wanted to take away his space and put ourselves in his space as much as possible. All the guards did a great job of doing that tonight.”

The Giants jumped to a 7-0 lead sandwiching Monterastelli’s early three-point bucket with a pair of field goals and never trailed the rest of the way.

San Rafael, however, even with Shapiro on ice, presented other problems for the Giants.

Big frontline players Wyatt Tornello and Will Healy were large and in charge around the basket and combined for 22 points and 18 rebounds.

“We did what we had to do to get the win,” DeMaestri said. “Those two boys are strong and they cause problems when they start pushing you around.”

Redwood’s best answer for the beasts down low was Harrington White, who led the Giants in points with 17 and rebounds with eight.

“When we played San Rafael early in the season we were a little confused on some of our defensive assignments and almost let that game get away,” White said. “But tonight we had a better scouting report on this team. We shared the ball better and played really well as a team.”

White was at his best in the second quarter – 10 points and three rebounds – as the Bulldogs crept within seven points twice before halftime.

In fact, White knocked down a clutch three-pointer just before halftime only seconds after Healy scored three the old-fashioned way for San Rafael.

The Giants led 30-20 at intermission.

In the third period, Redwood again turned to its defense to make the biggest mark, limiting the Bulldogs to six points and two field goals.

Meanwhile, the Giants extended their lead to 41-26 on the strength of three-point baskets by Leo Centeno, Monterastelli, and White.

Shapiro had his best offensive surge seconds into the final stanza when he converted three free throws after drawing a foul on a deep perimeter shot.

But the Giants, who were buoyed by Wes Fitzpatrick’s six points and five rebounds off the bench, never led by less than 14 points to the final buzzer.

Jake Post (four rebounds, a steal, and four points) and Charlie Poser (five points, five rebounds, and four assists) were also pivotal in the victory.

Branson 78, Tam 42

Third-seeded Branson advanced to Wednesday’s MCAL semifinals with a victory over the No. 6 seed from Tam High on Monday at College of Marin. NJ Gray scored a game-high 40 points and pulled down 10 rebounds in just three quarters of play for Branson (14-13). Tyler Wells had 15 points and three steals for the Bulls, who saw nine players get on the board.

Branson is scheduled to play at Archie Williams on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. for a rematch of their regular-season thriller, which the No. 2 Peregrine Falcons won, 59-55.

Henry Bennett led the Red-tailed Hawks (12-15) with 14 points, while Arman Salkhi added 12 points and Elliott Kruger had eight points.