Sophomore Tavian Henderson poured in 36 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as the St. Patrick-St. Vincent High boys basketball team beat host Gateway, 86-62, in Wednesday’s opening round of the North Coast Section Division IV playoffs.

The Bruins (21-8), seeded No. 2 in the tournament, didn’t like traveling to San Francisco on a school night to play a Gateway team seeded No. 15.

“We were very grateful to receive the No. 2 seed but very unhappy to have to go on the road,” said SPSV head coach Derek Walker.

Henderson took SPSV’s frustration out on the Gators (17-10), who went undefeated in the Bay Counties Central League. Henderson drove to the basket repeatedly for easy baskets and hit several mid-range jumpers.

“He was very aggressive tonight,” Walker said. “He got to the basket at will and just wasn’t going to be denied. He was hitting from everywhere.”

The Bruins were without guard B.J. Standley but got big contributions from Marcus Oducado, Danny Elizalde and Romeo Mays. Oducado had 15 points, Elizalde had a double-double and Mays finished with nine points and 10 rebounds. D.J. Harris had seven points and five steals.

SPSV went on a 10-0 run midway through the first quarter for a 21-6 lead, but Gateway fought back to within 30-26 before the Bruins ended the half on a 11-0 run. Sterling Biard hit seven 3-pointers and had 25 points for Gateway, but it wasn’t enough to slow down the Bruins, who built a 20-point lead midway through the third quarter.

The Bruins get to play at home Saturday night when they host No. 7 seed McKinleyville in the quartefinals.

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