San Carlos locks down with defense, wins SENAI tournament

ALBUQUERQUE

Although the San Carlos offense turned in a flashy effort, it was a defensive adjustment that had just as big an impact in helping the Braves beat Page.

San Carlos started out in a man-to-man defense in the championship game of the Eagle bracket at the 2016 Striking Eagle Native American Invitational before Braves coach Terry Antonio changed the defensive alignment with a zone to counter Page’s size.

That adjustment gave Page plenty of fits as the Sand Devils fell behind 33-19 at the break after trailing 16-10 after one quarter of play.

“That was the best defensive game we’ve played in a while,” Antonio said following their 65-46 win last Friday night at Johnson Center on the University of New Mexico campus.

“I thought the size might be a mismatch against us, but with the speed that we have and the shooting that we had in the first half, it really opened up the driving lanes for our kids,” Antonio said. “It all worked out.”

Despite scoring a game-high 27 points, San Carlos guard Al Case Jr. was happier with the way the defense played.

“Most of our shots were falling in that first half, but coach preaches to us that it’s all about defense,” said the junior guard, who was later tabbed the Most Valuable Player. “Our defense was the key because they had a couple of big guys on the floor.”

On the offensive end, Case hit back-to-back baskets to spur a quarter-ending 7-0 run in the opening frame for a 18-10 lead with junior teammate Christian Nosie knocking down a trey to cap the run.

The Braves increased that margin to 22-10 in the early going of the second period that forced Page coach Russ Skubal to call a timeout as he tried to make adjustments with San Carlos sticking with a zone defense.

“We were expecting them to press us and play man,” Skubal said. “They did something completely different than what we saw them do.”

---