PALO ALTO — It wasn’t pretty, but Menlo-Atherton got it done.
After sloppy play through three quarters, the Bears figured it out in the fourth as they pulled off a 54-49 victory over Palo Alto to advance to the Central Coast Section title game where they will face No. 2 Los Gatos.
John Anderson led Menlo-Atherton with 13 points and Justin Moore added 12.
Jorell Clark had 15 points and Gavin Haase had 10 for Palo Alto in the loss.
“We had to go back to our basics,” said Menlo-Atherton coach Mike Molieri. “Our defense was sluggish and they knew it. But then you saw in the second half, our defense was much smarter and a lot more aggressive.”
After a quick start to the first quarter in which Menlo-Atherton forced seven turnovers off its press, the defense regressed in the second.
Once the Vikings figured out how to break the Bears’ trap defense, it opened up transition opportunities and Palo Alto took advantage. Palo Alto connected on five 3-pointers in the second quarter alone and went into halftime with a 30-25 lead.
Palo Alto outrebounded Menlo-Atherton 21-16 over the course of four quarters.
Both teams battled throughout the second half with the game tight all the way into the midway point of the fourth quarter.
Menlo-Atherton found life in point guard Jonah Missan down the stretch. The senior extended the Bears’ lead to six at the 1:17 mark of the fourth quarter after a strong and-1 layup at the rim. On the ensuing Menlo-Atherton possession, the ball found Missan near the hoop and he finished an easy close-range bucket to give the Bears a 52-44 lead with under a minute left in the game.
Missan finished with 10 points, eight of which came in the second half.
“(Jonah) is the guy who’s going to do the dirty work,” Molieri said.
Despite being the higher seed, Menlo-Atherton played on the road Thursday. The CCS preselected 10 host sites based on schools who volunteered their facilities for the section playoffs. Palo Alto was one of those sites.
“There was a lot of frustration in the Menlo-Atherton community,” Molieri said. “But at the end of the day, I told everyone we have to focus on the game. And my team did a great job of not letting that be a distraction.”
Menlo-Atherton will be looking to capture its second CCS Division I title in three years on Saturday against Los Gatos at Santa Clara High. Los Gatos was the CCS Division I runner up last season.
“A win would mean so much to us because we have been working since the beginning of the season,” Missan said. “It would mean the world to us to get a win and get that ring.”