On a rainy Saturday Night it looked like, in the SCL World, the big news would be the crowning of another Analy championship. As Analy’s game with El Molino went along the thought changed from the championship, to ranking how big of upset was happening.
At the end, the story went back to the original thought, as No. 2 Analy came up with a big fourth quarter and defeated El Molino 46-42. The fact that they needed a big fourth quarter was a surprise, a big one. Analy went into the game with an eleven game winning streak and had gone through league play undefeated, including a 52-41 win over El Molino the first time the two teams met.
El Molino went into the game with a four game losing streak and a 6-17 record on the season. Despite those numbers, El Molino was four minutes away from the upset with a 38-27 lead. Analy then went on a championship run, outscoring the Lions 19-4 the rest of the way.
Malcolm Jenkins wrapped up a pretty good week, with 21 points. Jenkins scored 29 in Thursday’s win over Elsie Allen, in another game decided in the fourth quarter.
For Analy it is the third straight SCL championship and fifth in sixth seasons. Analy’s record during that time in SCL play is 54-5. If they win at Piner next Thursday, they will finish league play undefeated for the fourth time in the six year run.
It was a night in the SCL that appeared to be set up for one sided games, but it didn’t work out that way.
No. 8 Elsie Allen held off Petaluma 37-36 with Joe Hoeup leading the way with 14 points. Elsie Allen is 17-8 on the season and is now one win shy of tying the school’s all-time record for most wins in a season.
In the other game, Sonoma Valley had an 18-2 third quarter, on its way to a 56-47 win over Healdsburg. Cyle Gusse led the way with 17 points.
Elsie Allen goes for the school tying record when it hosts Sonoma Valley on Tuesday. That game will also determine the first round of the SCL post season matchups.
The top two spots in the SCL post season playoffs are set. Analy and No. 5 Piner, who had the league bye, will host the first round games on February 18th. The winner of the Elsie Allen-Sonoma Valley game will be the No. 3 seed and go to Piner in Round One. The loser will go to Analy.
My email address is jacpasquini@comcast.net