EL SEGUNDO — Wiseburn Da Vinci Academy hung close with Providence for a half, but foul trouble for its two leading scorers — seniors Nathaniel Perry and Jaylen Bernard — forced head coach Kevin Rudd to sit both players for more than a quarter each.
The challenge proved to be too much for the Wolves to overcome as Providence broke away in the second half to take a 75-49 victory over the Wiseburn Da Vinci in the CIF Southern Section Division 4A boys quarterfinals Thursday night.
Providence junior Jordan Shelley led all scorers with 27 points and Jonas Holt chipped in 16 points for the Pioneers (25-6) in the victory.
“I’m proud of my kids. I told my kids that 32 teams started the playoffs and we made it to the final eight,” Rudd said. “Let’s just take away what we could’ve done better to make it a better game. We started out defending him (Jordan Shelley) well, but you got to give him credit. He got it going in the second quarter and he plays fast and plays well.
“What hurt us was having to sit out No. 14 and No. 23 in the second and third quarter with foul trouble. We were hanging close until that happened.”
In the first quarter, Perry came out strong with eight points and Bernard had seven points as the Wolves hung with Providence, trailing 19-18 at the end of the first quarter, as Jayce Johnson buried a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
However, Bernard picked up his second and third fouls early in the second quarter, which forced him to the bench. Perry tried to keep the Wolves in it, scoring back-to-back baskets to cut the Providence lead to two with 4:09 to play, but he picked up his third foul shortly thereafter.
Da Vinci (15-11) did not score in the final four minutes of the half with both Perry and Bernard on the bench, and Providence took advantage of their absence. Holt and Shelley combined to score the final nine points to end the half with the Pioneers up 38-27.
Shelley came out in the third quarter and helped Providence take control of the game, scoring 11 of his 27 points during an 18-3 run that stretched the Pioneers’ lead to 59-34 with 1:47 left in the quarter. Perry scored six points in a two-minute stretch early in the fourth quarter to cut the Providence lead to 21, but it was too little too late for the Wolves.
“It was a tough game. They were knocking down shots and we were just having bad plays,” said Perry, who finished with a team-high 18 points and 10 rebounds. “It was a good game; we gave it our all. I’m proud of my team.
“Getting in foul trouble on silly fouls was hard, but I just tried to give it my all when I went back in there. Overall, I’m proud that we made it this far, even though we moved up divisions. It was a good way to end up the season, even though we lost. We had a good year.”
ROLLING HILLS PREP 74, SCHURR 44 >> Freshman Benny Gealer scored 29 points and Vaughn Flowers had 15 as the Huskies stormed into the semifinals with the Division 3AA road win.
Chris Koon and JT Tan finished with nine and eight points, respectively for the Huskies, who will host Oxnard, Saturday in the semifinals.
PALOS VERDES 70, COVINA 65 >> Jack Jamele scored 30 points and Jack Engstrom had 24 as the Sea Kings rallied for the road win in the Division 3A quarterfinal.
Covina led 31-22 in the second quarter and 44-37 at halftime.
SANTA BARBARA 77, MARY STAR 69 >> The Stars (22-7) led 29-11 in the first half, but fell to the top-seeded Dons in the Division 3A quarterfinal game.
