RedHawks get fifth win in six starts
- Updated: January 22, 2022
2021-22 EAST COUNTY PREP BOYS BASKETBALL
MOUNTAIN EMPIRE 61, SET 36
By Dave Dickens
EastCountySports.com
SAN DEGO (1-19-2022) — Not only a long trek down to San Diego but playing a red-hot Mountain Empire RedHawks team – definitely two teams on the opposite ends of the spectrum, – The School for Entrepreneurship & Technology (0-8) was taking on Mountain Empire (9-4).
The RedHawks sputtered and were not playing too smoothly in the first half of the contest. SET, the hosts, handled the visiting RedHawks in the first quarter, 12-10.
As the points being put up were increasing, the RedHawks still trailed by a mere two points, down 16-14, as SET won the first and second quarter, the score at the half, 28-24, SET.
Mountain Empire decided to use some press, shutting down the hosts shooting at one point to appear nonexistent. As the defense had shut down the host SET, the red-hot RedHawks turned the offense into a scoring frenzy.
“We struggled in the first half and we’re down by far at halftime. We only had five players available because Lukas Spencer and Corey Vann couldn’t play due to disciplinary reasons. In the second half, we buckled down and played defense. Albin Acevedo was the player of the game,” said Mountain Empire head coach Bernard Vann
Acevedo had 23 points, 19 rebounds, three steals, and four blocks.
Alvaro Martinez kicked it up a notch in the second half, 12 points all scored in the second half, along with three steals, and 3-of-4 from the free-throw line.
The third quarter had the visitors crushing the hosts, 22-4, and the fourth quarter was very similar with Mountain Empire, 15-4, winning the fourth. Finally crushing SET, 61-36.
“I think the main thing that brought us back was our composure and staying calm. We were down by four going into halftime, and I think that second half really brought us back to life just because we cleaned up our mistakes and started playing better as a team. The main thing that got me going in the second half was moving me off the ball and switching me from the 1 to the 2. I was able to get more open looks and just started feeling it. Another huge thing was having no subs and being able to finish the way we did, and winning by as much as we did, really shows how disciplined and well-coached we are,” Martinez said.
“We seemed to start slowly in the first half because our heads weren’t really in the game. We were down in the second half and needed to turn it around by playing great defense and offense. We had to play hard because it was a league game. Coach told us we had to play hard defense and take care of the ball, and we did. Everyone was playing excellent defense. I’m proud of the team and give credit to them,” Acevedo said.
