By Patrick McKinney
Exclusive to SoCalHoops

I hadn’t seen Santa Clara since the late 1980s when Coach Cvijanovich and Shon Tarver were leading the Saints to a State Title in Division IV. As I remembered, Santa Clara was well drilled and things of that nature just don’t change. Calvary Temple featured many of the players who appeared in the state finals a couple of years ago from Modesto Christian. Calvary has some great shooters and a powerful press and is still a very young team. The teams played it pretty close the whole way but Santa Clara found a way to pull it out, 75-68.

Santa Clara started this lineup:

Mel Angell, 6’1 Sr G
Anthony Camper, 6’ Jr G
Terrance Dotsy 6’4 Sr C
BJ Ward, 6’1 Sr G
Nick Jones, 6’4 Sr F

Calvary countered with this five:

Chris Armstrong, 6’4 Jr G
Earl Jackson, 6’5 Jr F
Eric Leong, 6’1 Jr F
Nick Tabari, 6’2 Jr G
David Paris, 6’6 Fr C

Santa Clara won the tip, and the teams traded turnovers before Nick Tabari scored the first bucket for Calvary with 6:25 to go. Both squads looked a bit tight and the game was called pretty close. Leong hit a pair of free throws for Calvary, and Mel Angell put Santa Clara on the board. Calvary missed and Jason Angell found Nick Jones on the coast to coast outlet. Jones scored on the streaking layup, was fouled, and converted the three point play to draw Santa Clara within a point with 5:05 to go. The teams traded turnovers, and Chris Armstrong hit Nick Tabari on a nice give and go to put Calvary up 8-5. Jones drilled a three to tie the game. Santa Clara would score three more points before Earl Jackson scored to make it 11-10 Santa Clara. Jason Angell hit a deep two and BJ Ward stole Calvary’s inbound pass to put Santa Clara up 15-10 with 1:42 to play. Jackson and Armstrong scored for Calvary to make it 15-14 and Nick Jones was fouled at the buzzer and hit both free throws to make the score 17-14 Santa Clara after one.

Santa Clara got its running game going in the second quarter and showed how easily and quickly they can put points on the board. Mel Angell drilled a three, and Tabari answered for Calvary on a backdoor feed from Armstrong. On the inbounds, Tabari made a steal, scored, and was fouled, but could not convert. BJ Ward came back on the other end with a slashing drive, and Mel Angell picked up his 3rd foul with 6:45 to go. Tabari hit a three for Calvary, but Santa Clara answered when Ward scored on a full-court inbounds pass. Nick Jones hit a couple of free throws on the next trip, and Leong answered with a couple of free throws of his own. On Santa Clara’s next trip, Tabari picked up his third foul and BJ Ward hit both free throws to put Santa Clara up 37-26 with 3:06 to go. Calvary went on a little run, but Dotty put one back at the buzzer to give Santa Clara a 40-31 advantage at the half.

Nick Jones led all scorers at the half with 14 and teammate BJ Ward added 13. Nick Tabari led Calvary with 10 and Eric Leong 8.

The second half started with both teams getting deep into foul trouble. First, BJ Ward picked up his 3rd foul with 7:45 to go and added a fourth 90 seconds later. For Calvary, Freshman David Paris picked up his third foul with 7:23 left and took a seat on the bench after adding his fourth personal with 5:40 to play in the third. Mel Angell picked up his 4th with 2:14 and Eric Leong got his fourth with 2:02 to go. Partially, the fouls were a result of Calvary’s pressing defense and, although they made a run early in the third, they appeared to wear out and Santa Clara maintained its advantage. Calvary cut the lead to 45-38 with 5:40 to go and Santa Clara got a timeout. Dotty hit a couple of free throws, but Tabari hit a deep two. Jones got a bucket on a nice feed from Dotty but Leong answered with a three to draw Calvary within 3 with 3:32 to go, 49-46. Jones hit one, giving him 21, and Leong answered, his 17th point. Santa Clara ended the third with a basket and a put back by Jones, and a deuce from Mel Angell to put Santa Clara back up 59-48.

In the fourth, Paris hit a free throw and Leong nailed a three to make it 59-52. Leong was injured on the play when he stopped on the defender’s foot and would not return for several minutes. Paris got another bucket to make it 59-54 with 6:58 to play. The teams then traded for several minutes, as seven possession went by where the teams scored. With 4:10 to play, Calvary was down 67-64 and Paris was on the line, but he missed both foul shots. Jones hit one free throw on the other end, and Tabari made it to the line on Calvary’s next trip, but also missed both shots. Jason Angell scored for Santa Clara off a steal, and Mel Angell hit two free throws on the next trip. Calvary was forced to foul and Chris Armstrong fouled out with 1:08 to go and Leong followed with 55 seconds left. Santa Clara held the ball the rest of the way and finished off their 75-68 victory.

Nick Jones led all scorers with 32 points, 4 short of the Division V record, and BJ Ward added 19 for Santa Clara in the victory. For Calvary, Nick Tabari and Eric Leong each scored twenty. David Paris blocked three shots and you can look forward to seeing this kid in the future.