San Rafael Wins First NCS Match Against Drake

With two players out and others playing sick – pneumonia appearing to be sweeping through the team – Drake did the best it could against San Rafael in its first round North Coast Section game. But, the No. 7 seed Pirates couldn’t hold off the No. 10 seed Bulldogs, eventually folding 53-43.

“Give San Rafael credit; they beat us all three times this year,” said Drake Coach Doug Donnellan.

Both Drake captain Robbie Bobay and the team’s leading scorer Joey Euphrat were out sick – possibly both with pneumonia. Senior forward Jeremy Steele played, but was also battling severe illness, said Donnellan before the game.

“We’ll get out there and fight like hell with whoever shows up,” said Donnellan earlier in the day by email.

Though the team went further than San Rafael in the MCAL play-offs, before losing the championship match to San Marin, Drake hadn’t been able to beat San Rafael throughout the regular season – falling twice to the Bulldogs. That gave the Bulldogs an upper hand, knowing they could rely on a game plan that had worked for them in the past, before news of the missing players even reached the court.

“We pretty much just kind of stuck with the game plan,” said San Rafael Coach Tony Butler. “Stick with what worked.”

Butler did note that Drake missing both Bobay and Euphrat allowed the Bulldogs to take more risks, extend their play, and force some mistakes from the Pirates, who had 18 turnovers for the game.

San Rafael also, reversely, celebrated the return of a player who had been out with the flu for the team’s last MCAL game, a loss to San Marin. Captain Sam Brown, an all-league player said Butler, gave the team an extra boost. “We walk with a little more swagger when we have him,” said Butler.

Senior Bobby Conner tweaked his ankle during the game, but is expected to make a full recovery for the next game.

Drake was able to keep the score even through the first half through scrappy defense and a 7-2 run, which momentarily gave them their only lead of the game at 17-15. Both teams went into the second half tied 17-17, but San Rafael went on a scoring run in the third period, capitalizing on mistakes and running the court. The Bulldogs entered the last quarter up 30-23 and Drake was never able to catch back up.

Though Drake’s higher number of team fouls sent San Rafael to the line repeatedly throughout the last period, the Pirates were able to close the gap some, bringing the score to 48-41 after Neal Chavez sunk a three-pointer with a minute to go.

Forty-three of the 96 game points were scored in the last quarter as both teams fought to stay in the NCS tournament.

San Rafael next faces No. 2 seed El Cerrito at El Cerrito High School this Friday at 7 p.m. San Rafael fared poorly in the East Bay last year.

“We’re eager to go over there and give them a better effort,” said Butler.