But the Cougars didn’t go quietly into the night either.
Despite being the No. 13 seed in the 16-team tournament, Half Moon Bay earned two road wins before falling to Menlo-Atherton, 43-29, Thursday night.
 Coach John W. Parsons, left, and the Half Moon Bay basketball team celebrates the final moments of their 56-51 overtime win over Terra Nova last week. The Cougars host a CCS playoff Thursday. |
Half Moon Bay’s first win was a 62-41 decision over San Mateo on Feb. 15. The next night, the Cougars rallied to beat Terra Nova, 56-51, in overtime. The Cougars trailed by 12 points in the first half.
But then came the game with the host Bears. Half Moon Bay fell behind early and never could recover.
On the whole, coach John W. Parsons was more than satisfied with the Cougars’ showing.
“Other Lake Division teams got blown out in their first-round games,” Parsons said. “It was nice to see us get two solid wins.”
While the win over San Mateo was not much of a surprise, as the Cougars began the season with a win over the Bearcats, the Terra Nova win boosted everyone’s spirits.
Not only did the win avenge a nine-point loss earlier this year, but the Cougars rallied after being down by 12 points.
“I told the guys, we have come back before,” Parsons said. “We just had to step up the defense.”
That’s just what Half Moon Bay did. Suddenly, Terra Nova, of the Bay Division, couldn’t get any shots off and had problems taking care of the ball.
Terra Nova had a chance to win the game in regulation, but turned the ball over with three seconds left.
Half Moon Bay’s shot at the end of regulation was no good. But that was no problem.
Half Moon Bay took the lead for a good halfway through the overtime period on an Alex Reis three-pointer.
“I was calm on that shot,” said Alex Reis. “I had a lot of confidence.”
Half Moon Bay kept up the defensive pressure, so Terra Nova didn’t score in overtime.
Andy Simanek helped the Cougar cause, coming off the bench to get 10 rebounds.
“I just got the ball and was passing it off to my teammates,” Simanek said.
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