Willow Glen starts fast, holds off Burlingame to reach CCS D2 final

SAN JOSE — After a blistering start, Willow Glen cooled way down.

But the Rams were so far ahead it didn’t matter. They were never seriously threatened in a 57-45 victory over Burlingame in a Central Coast Section Division II semifinal in front of a packed house on campus

“Willow Glen hasn’t seen this kind of environment in a long time,” first-year coach Patrick Judge said. “Loud. Fun. It was a great night for Willow Glen basketball.”

Now, Willow Glen has a chance at history, the opportunity to win the school’s first CCS boys basketball championship since 1969.

The Rams will play St. Francis on Saturday for the CCS Division II championship.

“It feels great,” said Caiden Morefield, who went off for a game-high 25 points. “The last time we put a banner up was 1969. I’ve been looking at it all week.”

Willow Glen (23-2) came out on fire and led 24-7 at the end of the first quarter. Everything went right for the Rams. They shot 11-of-14 from the floor, did not commit a turnover while their defensive pressure contributed to seven turnovers by the visitors.

“We had a hard time matching up with their physicality to start the game,” Burlingame coach David Lopez said.

Twenty-four points in the first quarter. What are they going to do? Score 96?

Well, not exactly. Willow Glen was as cold in the second quarter as it was hot in the first, missing its first six shots, committing five turnovers and not scoring for the first 6:05 of the quarter, allowing Burlingame to pull within 10 at halftime.

“We continued to get good shots,” Judge said. “They just didn’t go in. To be able to be up 10 at halftime I felt like we still had all the momentum.”

It was a nine-point lead after three quarters. Lucca Maher scored for Burlingame to start the fourth quarter to make it 39-32, but that was as close as the Panthers would get. Morefield scored Willow Glen’s first nine points of the quarter to extend the lead to 48-34.

Willow Glen doesn’t have anyone taller than 6-2 in its rotation. Morefield, a tight end and defensive end on the Willow Glen football team, plays the 5.

“He’s the physical presence we can throw the ball to inside,” Judge said. “Him hitting two 3s was huge. He was completely locked in all night.”

Point guard Brayden Gumabo added 14. Maher had 12 for Burlingame (18-9), the fourth-place team from the PAL Bay Division. The Panthers were seeded No. 5 in the D-II bracket, but knocked off No. 4 Westmont to reach the semifinal.

Judge, who coached at Santa Teresa last season, was asked if he had any expectation of going 23-2 and being able to play for a CCS title:

“I had no idea, I don’t think anyone did,” Judge said. “As soon as we played in our first tournament over the summer the coaches looked at each other and realized we could be special. We didn’t know how special, but we’re proving it now. We have a chip on our shoulder. We’re not big, we don’t win the eye test. But they’re so connected, play together, incredibly unselfish and I couldn’t be happier.”