Mission Bay defeated Saint Augustine 76-62 and University City 49-33 in men’s varsity basketball action last week.
The sound thumping of the Saints came after a one-point loss in their gym five weeks ago in the first round of play.
“We were cheated out of that win,” said Mission Bay head coach Dennis Kane. “We want to finish strong now and put those games behind us.”
The Bucs led the Saints by 10 at the half and finished up by 14 at the final buzzer. Back on their home court for the Feb. 5 rematch, they enjoyed the return of 6-foot-7-inch Thomas Tiop to the court after a mild knee bruise against Cathedral High Jan. 28.
Tiop put up 12 points while Derrick Thompson and Maurice McKinney added 13 each. Esaias Tsegai led the scoring with 21. Charles Jock also scored 6, Curt Henry 3 and Victor Johnson 2.
On Friday, Feb. 8, the Bucs and UC Centurions gave a lackluster performance. UC played on their heels all evening while Mission Bay played down to their level.
The best show in the gym was the fans. At least 600 students and 300 adults packed the Mission Bay gym and shouted continuously for their teams during the Friday night event.
Huge groups of student fans from each school stood for the entire game and celebrated every turn of events loudly. Many had painted faces, while all wore their school colors, the Bucs in black and the Centurion faithful in blue.
Mission Bay dominated the low-scoring game, but you couldn’t tell it by the support provided by the UC fans.
Mission Bay Buccaneer mascot character Robbie Santos led as many cheers as the uniformed cheerleaders.
The noise level grew in the final three minutes while the UC team began intentionally fouling the Buccaneer guards, and all but a couple of the free throw attempts went in for more points.
Junior point guard Tsegai again led the scoring against UC with 17. Sophomore Thompson delivered 12, senior Tiop 6, senior Jock 4, senior McKinney 3, sophomore Henry 3, senior Johnson 2 and senior Tyrell Green 2 at the buzzer.
The Bucs finished the regular season with a 57-36 win at last-place Lincoln Tuesday, Feb. 12.
The 15-7 (8-4) Bucs have clinched second place in the Western League, two games behind La Jolla. Schedules will be set this Saturday when Mission Bay should be seeded in the Division III playoffs.
Mission Bay sports information is available from the school at (858) 273-1313 ext. 190 or the school website at www.missionbayhigh.com.