If there's one thing you can say about the St. Francis boys basketball program, it's that they are consistent. The #3 ranked Sharks held off a furious rally from #6 Oakwood for a 58-48 win in the quarterfinals of the CCS boys basketball tournament. The win marked the seventh straight season the Sharks have won their CCS opener and the sixth straight year they've reached at least the semi finals.
Junior Cooper Scherr led St. Francis with 23 points while senior Mark Hinojosa scored 18 points for the Sharks. St. Francis (14-12), who led for most of the game, took a 42-33 lead into the 4th quarter. Oakwood (23-3) rallied behind freshman guard Yusef Eshra's game high 27 points to cut the lead to just 4 points with two minutes to go. Scherr hit a pull up jumper in the lane that settled the Sharks and Hinojosa, Nick Wempe, and Brian Dobler all converted free throws to seal the victory.
"Eshra is as quick as anybody we've played this year and he made it tough" said St. Francis coach Ed Kelly. "We had a great week of practice and Mark Gugale and Jonathon Carmona did a great job of leading the scout team and getting the team ready for Oakwood's speed."
The Sharks move on to face #2 Woodside Priory on Wednesday night at 5:30 at Alma Heights High School in Pacifica.
"We feel fortunate to still be playing in March," said Kelly. "There are not a lot of teams still going and for these kids to get this far this many years in a row is a real tribute to the work they put in and a great tradition they are adding to for St. Francis."
Junior Cooper Scherr led St. Francis with 23 points while senior Mark Hinojosa scored 18 points for the Sharks. St. Francis (14-12), who led for most of the game, took a 42-33 lead into the 4th quarter. Oakwood (23-3) rallied behind freshman guard Yusef Eshra's game high 27 points to cut the lead to just 4 points with two minutes to go. Scherr hit a pull up jumper in the lane that settled the Sharks and Hinojosa, Nick Wempe, and Brian Dobler all converted free throws to seal the victory.
"Eshra is as quick as anybody we've played this year and he made it tough" said St. Francis coach Ed Kelly. "We had a great week of practice and Mark Gugale and Jonathon Carmona did a great job of leading the scout team and getting the team ready for Oakwood's speed."
The Sharks move on to face #2 Woodside Priory on Wednesday night at 5:30 at Alma Heights High School in Pacifica.
"We feel fortunate to still be playing in March," said Kelly. "There are not a lot of teams still going and for these kids to get this far this many years in a row is a real tribute to the work they put in and a great tradition they are adding to for St. Francis."