PORTOLA VALLEY — Priory evened the season series with Sacred Heart Prep, winning at home 50-43 on Friday night.
In doing so, Priory (19-2, 6-1), the No. 17 team in the Bay Area News Group boys basketball rankings, moved into a tie for first place with No. 15-ranked SHP in the West Bay Athletic League standings with two games left.
In the likely event that they are still tied for first at the conclusion of league play, how would a co-championship play out in regard to seeding in the Central Coast Section playoffs?
“I think we both have a real good case for the Open,” SHP coach Tony Martinelli said. “The WCAL is what it is, but there’s a lot of parity. We both have some good non-league wins, which helps our resume a little bit. I think it would be warranted for us both to get in. Then we could see them again.”
Priory trailed 25-22 at halftime before taking control in the second half.
“We like to play a fast-paced style of play,” Priory coach David Moseley said. “We got to that in the second half, made a lot of deflections. In the second quarter, we played Sacred Heart’s game, which is slow it down, make a lot of passes, take time off the clock and wait for someone to make a mistake.”
Nes Emeneke, a 6-foot-10 junior, was a big factor in the second-half turnaround.
“He got some great blocked shots and kept us from going to the basket,” Martinelli said. “The few times we got to the rim he was quick enough to get back. That’s a credit to the work they’ve done with him because he’s gotten better.”
Emeneke was a soccer player in Cameroon before arriving at Priory in 2021.
“You have to understand when he got here he’d never played basketball before,” Moseley said. “He didn’t know what a 2-3 zone was, what deny or take a charge meant. In a year his basketball IQ has exploded.”
Sophomore guard Ryder Bush led all scorers with 13 points, nine of which came in the second half.
“Ryder’s a natural scorer,” Moseley said. “He can take guys off the dribble. He’s cat-quick.”
Emeneke scored 12 points, eight in the second half. Point guard Tayo Sobomehin helped keep Priory in contact in the first half with three 3-pointers. Rostand Olama Abanda, a 6-4 wing described by Moseley as ”one of the best defenders in Northern California, if not the state,” scored 8 points.
Sam Norris led SHP (14-5, 6-1) with 11 points. LJ Quattlebaum scored 9 and Drew Wagner had 8.
“If you asked our guys no one would say they played their best game tonight,” Martinelli said. “That’s what I love about our guys. They’re accountable, they know they could be better and they’re going to work hard to be better. That’s all you can ask for.”
