Chaminade Cut to Size by St. Genevieve, 64-37

Before Tuesday night’s game with Chaminade High, St. Genevieve Coach Mike Denison said: “We have all five starters back from last year. Unfortunately none of them have grown.”

The senior-laden Valiants proved Tuesday night that size is not always measured in inches, but sometimes in desire.

St. Genevieve stunned Santa Fe League nemesis Chaminade, 64-37, at Harvard High by working a full-court pressure defense to perfection. The Valiants, whose starters average under 5-11, forced 21 turnovers that produced numerous fast-break layups.

“The press bothered them and we got some easy layups,” Denison said. “The kids really wanted it. They had a lot of intensity the whole game.”

Chaminade aided the blowout by shooting 29% (16 for 54) from the field and an equally inept 5 for 16 from the free-throw line.

“It’s very humiliating to lose like that,” Chaminade Coach Mike Lynn said. “I just hope we can learn from it.”

It looked at first like Chaminade (9-6 overall and 2-3 in league) would be on the winning end of a laugher early in the game. The Eagles held St. Genevieve scoreless until 2:22 remained in the first quarter. Senior center Anthony Garcia finally ended the dry spell with a layup to make the score 6-2.

With 11 seconds left in the first period, the Valiants went ahead for the first time, 11-10, on guard Steve Escovar’s driving layup that produced a three-point play. St. Genevieve (10-6 overall and 4-1 in league) promptly outscored Chaminade in the second quarter, 16-9, including six points on three consecutive turnovers to start the rout.

Chaminade guard Joey Chandler briefly withheld the Valiants’ charge by scoring all eight of his points in the second quarter, all on shots from 20 feet.

St. Genevieve shot 51% (24 of 47) from the field, with 6-0 senior Moe Guardado leading all scorers with 14. Forward Arnold Durazo had 12 points and Escovar added 10 for the Valiants, who out-rebounded the taller Eagles, 27-25.

“If we can stay close to a team in rebounding,” Denison said, “we usually can play tough. I just didn’t expect to be ahead by 30 points in the fourth quarter.”