The Seton Catholic Cougars set a high bar for themselves this season.
In the first half of Monday’s game against Trico League boys basketball foe King’s Way Christian, the Cougars felt they were playing below that standard.
King’s Way led for the majority of a back-and-forth first quarter, and its zone defense limited Seton Catholic to just 26 points in the first half, as the Cougars led by three points at intermission.
All of eight minutes later, Seton Catholic’s slow start was history. A 28-11 third quarter advantage led the Cougars to a decisive 64-54 win over the Knights.
Still undefeated in the Trico League, the Cougars (13-5, 12-0) clinched a share of the league title with two regular season games remaining.
Kaiden Wilson scored a game-high 25 points to lead Seton Catholic, including 10 points in the third, while Rico George and Brady Angelo added 12 and 11 points, respectively.
The Cougars opened with a 13-0 run to start the third, a stretch that included two 3-pointers from Wilson, another deep shot from Rico George and a Lance Lee layup. Jackson Lovato, who led King’s Way (12-7, 5-7) with 18 points, broke the run with a layup at the 5:14 mark.
“(Kaiden) brought the energy tonight, he was our scorer for us tonight, so him coming out in the third quarter hot, that for sure helped us,” Angelo said. “Once we get our momentum as a team, we’re a big 3-point shooting team. Overall once we get that momentum, I don’t think anyone can stop us.”
The Cougars hit six 3-pointers in the quarter, including another two from Ben Deochand off the bench, with Angelo providing the exclamation point, a deep 3-pointer from several feet beyond the line, to give Seton Catholic a 52-32 lead nearing the end of the quarter.
“Props to (King’s Way), they put us in a pretty tough zone the first half,” Angelo said. “We didn’t really know how to go against it, but at halftime (head coach Donald Wilson) coached us up, helped us get in a set that would break it, then we came out with (13) straight points and I think that closed the game out.
Kaiden Wilson, the reigning Trico League Most Valuable Player who’s averaging a team-high 21 points per game this season, likely would’ve had an even bigger scoring output had it not been for foul trouble. He exited the game after picking up his fourth foul midway through the third quarter, and had a chat with Donald Wilson, his dad and coach, as he walked to the bench.
“The message was, like, don’t foul, get to the fourth (quarter) and get out of the gym with a win,” Kaiden Wilson said.
During their current 10-game win streak, the Cougars haven’t lost since Jan. 3 and are two wins away this week from running the table in the Trico League.
They’ve continued to win despite players in and out of the lineup, namely Angelo and Wilson, who have dealt with injuries this season. Other players have stepped up when the Cougars are at less than full strength.
“There’s more to this team than the starting five,” Kaiden Wilson said. “All of our bench is ready to play.”
The first half of Monday’s game showed the Cougars there’s still work to be done, but they’re eager to get back in the gym and prepare for their upcoming slate, including a Friday rematch with King’s Way to close the regular season.
“For sure a lot more work to do overall,” Angelo said, “but we got the win, so we’ll get better in practice when we face them on Friday.”
SETON CATHOLIC 64, KING’S WAY CHRISTIAN 54
KING’S WAY CHRISTIAN — Radley Matson-Blighton 9, Kaulin Butcher0 , Cooper Sprague 0, Daniel Flora Da Silva 5, Thiago Morales 0, Jackson Lovato 18, Patrick Carney 4, Rathan Kang 6, Reece Johnson 8, Jesse Hartsell 1. Totals 20 (6) 7-13 54.
SETON CATHOLIC — Tyler Tran 0, Mason Glassmire 2, Brady Angelo 11, Rico George 12, Lance Lee 6, Kaiden Wilson 25, Ben Deochand 8. Totals 23 (10) 8-10 64.
King’s Way 10 13 11 20—54
Seton Catholic 10 16 28 10—64