The San Marin High boys basketball team is sending 2024 out on a high note after showing the Mustangs belong among the playoff contenders before they enter the heart of the regular season.
The Mustangs avenged an earlier loss to Marin Catholic as San Marin led the entire second half of Monday’s 63-51 victory to claim seventh place at the Bambauer Classic, hosted by the Wildcats.
“This win meant everything,” said San Marin first-year head coach Chris Lavdiotis, whose Mustangs lost to Marin Catholic 56-47 on Dec. 20 during tournament action at Casa Grande High.
“How does Draymond Green put it? This win was good for the mentals,” Lavdiotis said.
Marin Catholic (5-9) is looking for a cure to its woes after losing its final three of four games at the Bambauer.
“We just all have to figure out how to win,” Marin Catholic head coach Mike Saia said. “More importantly, we have to play together and try to find the right combinations.”
After two non-league contests, the two teams meet again on Jan. 14, this time for a MCAL matchup at Marin Catholic for the series tiebreaker.
“We start 2025 at 0-0. We hit the reset button,” said Saia, whose team hosts Ukiah on Friday, then San Rafael in a non-league contest on Jan. 7, before the MCAL opener against Archie Williams on Jan. 10.
San Marin (6-5), starts the new year with non-league games against Encinal and Novato on Friday and Jan. 8, respectively, before facing off with host Tam in the Jan. 10 MCAL kickoff.
“We’re going to need to get an upset on the road to earn a playoff berth this year,” said Lavdiotis said, whose Mustangs missed the MCAL playoffs last season.
All-tournament selection JD Rhodes had 16 points during a balanced scoring effort from the Mustangs. Grant Means hit three of the team’s six 3-pointers en route to a game-high 19 points. Means added five assists and four rebounds to his line. Rio Seiler had 14 points, two assists and two rebounds for San Marin.
Marin Catholic sophomore Jack Herman stepped up for a team-high 13 points, and Oliver Myers had 12 points for the Wildcats, who were without injured junior Joe Hammond.
Means hit his first 3-pointer of the day just 30 seconds into the game to spark the Mustangs, but Herman and senior Jake Ryan dropped in back-to-back layups to steal the lead. From there, the game swiveled as neither side led by more than three points throughout the first quarter.
Just as Marin Catholic started to gain some momentum to open the second quarter, Rhodes and Means put together a six-point stretch to give San Marin 22-20 lead midway through the quarter.
Rhodes tied the game at 25-25 late in the second quarter, before Means put on a highlight reel in the final 25 seconds of the first half. Means pulled down a defensive rebound and then scored on the other end to give the Mustangs the lead for good, 27-25. He then punctuated his effort with a shot from well behind the arc that hit the rim and popped up high before falling through the net at the buzzer for a 30-25 lead going into the break.
“We were fully engaged at the start of the game,” Lavdiotis said. “Last time we played Marin Catholic, it was close, but we didn’t show up in the end. We made sure today that we played the way we want to play all season.”
Junior Miller Morgan, the tallest San Marin player at 6-foot, 3-inches tall, pulled down nine rebounds to go with four assists and three points in a physically commanding effort. Against a shorthanded Marin Catholic lineup, Morgan and the Mustangs were able to establish a disruptive defensive game that held Wildcats standout Henry Dibble to just two points.
“On the boards, we had a pretty good battle,” Lavdiotis said. “Morgan did a good job there, and we were getting the ball to Means and Seiler, who were hitting the open shots.”
Marin Catholic was able to close to within five points in the final three minutes of the third quarter, with San Marin leading 36-31, but could not sustain the drive against the Mustang defense.
“In the second half, the ball just went in for San Marin, but we’d go to the basket and we’d get fouled,” Saia said. “We put the free throws in, and we had chances, but we just weren’t making the plays in the second half that we needed to.”
