Boys basketball: Marin Catholic rolls past Branson to claim MCAL title

Kevin Vasquez is mostly stoic and rather mild-mannered, especially for a basketball coach.

But even Vasquez, the first-year head coach for Marin Catholic, couldn’t help but show a bit of emotion when asked about his experience this season.

“It’s like I died and went to heaven,” Vasquez said.

Vasquez’s top-seed Wildcats were certainly other-worldly in Friday’s MCAL final, posting a never-in-doubt 75-55 victory against No. 3 Branson before a standing room-only crowd at the Redwood High gymnasium.

“The team bought into the system from the get-go this season,” Vasquez said. “They’re a 17-player team. The best player on our team is depth. Everybody contributes and the entire team is interchangeable.”

The Wildcats (23-3) are likely to gain a berth in the open division when the North Coast Section selection committee meets Sunday to determine seeds.

“People have asked me this week which division we wanted to end up in for the NCS playoffs,” Vasquez said. “I tell them let’s give it a shot in the open division. We have gotten progressively better this season and we’re ready for any challenge.”

MC’s greatest challenge Friday was finding a way to slow down high-scoring Branson guard NJ Gray.

The funny thing is, the Wildcats didn’t. Gray easily led all scorers with 30 points.

But the Wildcats countered with their season mantra. Four players reached double-figures in scoring, led by Jack Herman with 13. Herman just recently returned to the lineup after missing much of the regular season with an injury.

“This win was all about preparation and playing together as a team,” said MC forward Micah Pierce, whose family moved from New Jersey in the summer. “Combine preparation with opportunity and it equals good luck. We gave ourselves the opportunity to win a championship and that’s what we did.”

Pierce scored just six points but he was a force up and down the court in the early going when the game was still in doubt, adding an assist and a steal to his team-high six rebounds.

“Whatever it takes to win the game – that’s what we do,” Pierce said.

Vasquez singled out senior floor-leader Joe Hammond as the first player to go all-in with the team concept this season.

“Joe bought in right away and really believed in the system,” Vasquez said. “We could not have done this without him.”

Joe Hammond was at the top of his game in the final, playing tenacious defense, scoring 10 points and dishing four assists.

“The first time we played Branson [MC won 58-57], they did a good job of slowing us down,” Hammond said. “Tonight we kept pushing no matter what. We roll players in and out and now that Jack Herman is back, we’re even better.”

The Wildcats hit the accelerator in the opening moments of the second quarter extending a five-point lead to 15.

MC cashed in on three Branson turnovers in the first two minutes of the second stanza and Herman made them pay, sinking two of his three three-pointers.

Marin Catholic opened the second half with two quick baskets. Bentley Morrow rebounded his own missed shot and scored a layup and Pierce streaked baseline-to-baseline on a fast-break layup.

By the time Oliver Myers stole an inbounds pass and fed Herman for an easy two, the Wildcats lead was 24 points.

Gray tried to bring his team back in the fourth quarter – he scored 10 points, including an amazing corkscrew move through the lane for a layup – but the Bulls never got closer than 17 points.