The Mission Bay Buccaneers suffered a tough 51-48 loss to the University City (UC) Centurions in the Western League men’s basketball opener for both ballclubs at UC last week. Despite getting five points from senior Jared Kane and four from senior T.J. Gatdoar in the first quarter, Mission Bay still trailed by a score of 14-11. The Buccaneers got four more points from Kane in the second quarter and outscored the Centurions 8-4 to take a 19-18 lead heading into the locker room at halftime. After the intermission, UC juniors Riley Dickard, Quinn Skillin, Brendan Smith and Michael Sohikish scored two, three, four and seven points, respectively, in the third quarter, as the Centurions went on a 16-7 run to create a 34-26 cushion. That’s when junior Isaiah Milan went to work, outscoring the entire UC squad 9-0 all by himself and giving Mission Bay a slim 35-34 lead at the end of the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, Kane converted five more baskets (including two free throws and a three-pointer) and junior Andre Petties-Wilson added four points of his own for the Bucs, but it wasn’t quite enough as the Centurions got six points apiece from Skillin and Sohikish and five from senior Devante Pritchett in the fourth period to seal the victory. The Buccaneers were led by the play of Kane who finished with a game-high 19 points and was joined in the Mission Bay statistical column by Milan (13 points, seven rebounds), Gatdoar (six points, seven rebounds), Petties-Wilson (four points, six rebounds), junior Lamarriel Taylor (six points) and senior Sebastian Hassan (six rebounds). In another Western League contest, the Buccaneers got a big 37-33 win over the Scripps Ranch Falcons at Mission Bay on Jan. 11. Kane finished with a team-high 13 points for the Buccaneers, while Milan contributed seven rebounds and two assists to Mission Bay’s winning effort. In a non-league ballgame, the Buccaneers got yet another big win, this time by a score of 59-38 over the Mount Miguel Matadors at Mission Bay on Jan. 12. Petties-Wilson led the Buccaneers with a game-best 14 points and was followed in the Mission Bay scoring column by Kane (13 points), Milan (12 points) and Gatdoar (18 rebounds). With last week’s victories, the Buccaneers saw their record improve to 6-4 overall and 1-1 in Western League play on the young season.
