The St. Patrick-St. Vincent High boys basketball team nearly rallied back from a 16-point deficit in the second half but ultimately fell short in a 49-46 loss at Half Moon Bay in Wednesday night’s first round of the Northern California Division IV Regional Playoffs.

The defeat ended the season for the Bruins, who finished 22-10 overall. Half Moon Bay improved to 25-4 and will take on Cardinal Newman in Saturday’s NorCal quarterfinals.

“I’m extremely proud of this year’s team,” said SPSV head coach Derek Walker after the season-ending loss. “We had five seniors who gave me all they had and several underclassmen who did a lot for us.”

The Cougars beat SPSV, 51-45, when the two teams met in the MLK Tournament on Jan. 17 and managed to shut down the Bruins again in the rematch. SPSV had only 20 points at halftime and six points in the third quarter before storming back late. Case DuFrane, a 6-foot-7 senior, and 6-foot-6 Austin Hilton denied the Bruins inside and rarely let SPSV get a second or third opportunity.

“They were able to impose their will in the game more than we were able to,” Walker said. “We have to give their defense credit. They do a good job of packing the paint. They’re really physical and very disciplined. You get five guys playing physical, hard defense and it makes it tough on opponents.”

The Bruins pulled to within two points in the final minute and had several opportunities to tie the game, but a missed shot, a turnover and a steal by Hilton with two seconds left sealed their fate.

B.J. Standley led the Bruins with 14 points while fellow sophomore Tavian Henderson added 11 points. SPSV made only 8-of-20 free throws.

“When you lose by three and miss 12 free throws, you don’t have to look too far to see why you lost,” Walker said.

Jake Salinero paced Half Moon Bay with 14 points, including 4-of-9 on 3-pointers.

SPSV accomplished a lot this season, becoming the first Bruin boys team in the Walker era to beat Salesian twice, St. Mary’s twice and St. Joe’s twice in the same season. This year also marked the first time the Bruins made it to the Tri-County Athletic League championship game.

When it comes to local bragging rights, SPSV made it further than any boys basketball team in Solano County other than Vanden, which lost 75-71 to Sacred Heart Cathedral in the first round of the Division III NorCal Playoffs.

“We take pride in being the last team standing around here,” Walker said.

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