The day after Christmas, the Cubs traveled up north to the Bay Area to participate in the Sand Dune Classic at St. Ignatius College Prep in San Francisco. In the first game of the tournament, they took on the Menlo-Atherton Bears.
Starting Cubs:
PG: John Belardi, #12 (6’3”, G, Jr.)
SG: Andre Parris, #13 (6’3”, G/F, Sr.)
SF: Jack Kresich, #10 (6’7”, F, Jr.)
PF: Remington Rofer, #35 (6’8”, F/C, Jr.)
C: Colby Brooks, #20 (6’7”, C, Sr.)
1st Quarter
Brooks won the opening tip for the Cubs. The first bucket came from a Brooks jumper at the 7:37 mark. The Bears got their first points with a jumper with 7:05 left. Brooks struck again with another layup, and the Cubs led 4-2 with 6:50 remaining. The Bears got a steal and were sent to the line at the 6:02 mark. They made one of two free throws to come within one. Rem’s putback layup gave the Cubs a 6-3 lead with 5:39 left. Kresich’s three increased their lead to six, 9-3, with 4:30 left. The first substitution for the Cubs came at the 3:58 mark, when Grant Roquemore checked in for Rofer. The Bears went on a 5-0 run to come within one with 3:20 left. The Cubs countered with an 8-2 run and led 20-10 with a minute remaining. Christian Sucuveanu’s layup increased the Cubs’ lead to 12, 22-10 with 25 seconds remaining. The Bears’ missed shot at the buzzer ended the quarter.
Score: 22-10 Cubs
2nd Quarter
The second quarter started out poorly for the Cubs as the Bears went on a 10-0 run. The Cubs still led 22-20 with 3:22 remaining. They finally stopped the Bears’ charge with a Parris steal and layup with 2:40 left in the first half. The Bears were sent to the line, where they made one of two free throws to come within three, 24-21, with 2:02 remaining. Nick Green checked in for Roquemore shortly after. Kresich was fouled at the 1:33 mark and made both of his free throws. The Bears were fouled again at the 1:05 mark and entered the bonus. They made both free throws. Kresich splashed another triple to give the Cubs a 29-23 lead with 43 seconds to go. Parris got a block, and Rofer was fouled with 25 seconds left, resulting in another Cubs possession with a side-out inbound. The Cubs missed another shot, and the Bears were fouled on a three-point attempt at the buzzer. 0.3 seconds were put on the clock and the Bears made one of three free throws to close out the half.
Score: 29-24 Cubs
3rd Quarter
The Cubs got the possession to begin the second half, but Belardi turned the ball over to the Bears with 7:41 to go. The Bears stole the ball but missed the corner three at the 7:24 mark. Brooks gave the Cubs their first points of the second half with a layup at the 6:40 mark. A Dre trey increased the Cubs’ lead to 10 with 5:48 left. The Bears got a layup with 5:26 to go for their first points of the quarter. Although the Bears got three steals, they were only able to scratch once with a jumper at the 5:07 mark. Parris returned the favor with a steal and layup of his own at the 3:52 mark. The Bears struck again with a steal and layup, and the score was 36-30 in favor of the Cubs with 3:34 remaining. A Kresich layup gave the Cubs an 8-point cushion with 3:20 left. The Bears were sent to the line with 3:03 left, and made one of two free throws. Parris’s layup put the Cubs up by nine, 40-31, with 2:30 left. Cox came in for Kresich at the 2:15 mark. Uri Ferguson’s steal led to a Brooks layup with 1:30 remaining, and the Cubs led by 12. The Bears stopped the Cubs’s run with a three at the 1:11 mark. Brooks’s layup put the Cubs up by 10, 44-34, with six seconds left in the quarter. Ferguson got another steal and heaved a three that went in and out at the buzzer.
Score: 44-34 Cubs.
4th Quarter
The final frame opened with back-to-back steals by Ferguson, one of which led to Brooks getting fouled at the 7:30 mark. The Cubs caught fire with a 9-0 run with buckets from Cox, Brooks, Parris, and Ferguson. The Bears stopped the Cubs’ scoring streak with a three at the 5:40 mark. A kicked-ball violation was called on the Bears, and Rem checked in for Roquemore at the 5:09 mark. Cox nailed a jumper and the Cubs led by 18, 55-37, with 4:49 to go. After a scoring drought by both teams, the Bears stole the ball and drilled a triple with 3:43 remaining. The Cubs led 55-40. Roquemore and Uri checked in for Kresich and Rem at the 3:22 mark. Cox swished both free throws to put the Cubs up 57-40 with 2:43 left. The Bears hit another three with 2:19 left. Ferguson was sent to the line again with under two minutes to play, and made one of two free throws. The Cubs emptied their bench as Trent Turner, Wyatt Freeark, Nick Green, Jackson Treiger, and Dylan Tracy-Lindenbaum came in for the starters with a minute to play. DTL put the nail in the coffin with a layup with 40 seconds to play.
FINAL: 60-43 Cubs
Cub of the Game
The Cub of the Game was Andre Parris, who’s stellar defense was key to the Cubs stealing (pun-intended) the win in the Bay. In regards to the second half, Parris said, “We came out with energy, and we kind of moved the ball more. It was energy and effort pretty much off the grip, and we were focusing on the goal was, which was to come out with a win.” Parris said the key to keeping the team’s rhythm is ball movement. “We’re all great scorers and passers. We can all do something that contributes to the team.”
The Next Game
The Cubs face the Monte Vista Mustangs on December 27 at 6:00 pm in the second game of the Sand Dune Classic.