One word explained the feeling at Breaker Gym Friday night, jubilation. For the first time since the 2020-21 season, the Breakers’ Boys basketball team had beaten Carmel.
The Breakers had not started league play as well as they wished, going 2-5 in their first seven games with close, overtime losses to Monterey 73-64 in their first league game, Alisal 80-69 (in triple overtime), and Palma 67-62. In most of these games, the Breakers had started or entered the half with the lead, but slowly broke down through fatigue or poor plays–turnovers and bad or missed shots–, allowing the other team to win in overtime or within the fourth quarter. The Breakers’ first league game against Carmel was no different. Despite a 1-point Padres lead at halftime, the Breakers had difficulty cutting down the deficit, leading to a 16-point loss, 51-35.
However, league play repeated starting on January 27th, and the Breakers would get the chance to play every league team for a second time. Despite a primary loss to Monterey 66-57 at home, the Breakers would recover, winning 60-48 at Alisal, the then third-place team in the league. Carmel was next.
Going into the game, Sophomore Sergen Serttunc told me “(The team) had worked hard to prepare for the game, and as the perceived underdog, we had a chip on our shoulder, ready to compete as a team”. Serttunc also mentioned the benefits of competing in front of a home crowd, “There was also a sense of excitement as most of us had never played against Carmel at home before”.
The Breakers came out to a blazing 20-7 lead to end the first quarter. A big shock to the team they had lost to 51-35 in their last outing while holding a 7-7 tie in the first quarter. The Breakers were aided by 7-point and 6-point scoring quarters from Andrew Nimri and Manzil Poudel respectively, and rebounding from Brody Edmonds. The team’s run began through their ability to break Carmel’s harsh press through ball movement, communication, and execution of their press break plays.
The second quarter was much of the same for the Breakers as they continued to pressure well on the defensive front, bring in rebounds, and slow down their movement to focus on breaking Carmel’s press to create good shots. The Breakers entered the half up 35-21 on their crosstown rivals.
As for halftime entertainment, one girl and one boy from each Carmel and Pacific Grove were chosen to compete in a “hot shot” competition against the other school. Sophomore Aidan Powers won in the girls’ competition while PGMS eighth-grader Aidan San Filippo lost to the Carmel counterpart in the boys’ competition.
Despite maintaining a comfortable lead for most of the third quarter, the Breakers’ lead began to whittle away toward the end of the period to become 49-41. The Padres were helped by a few costly turnovers by the Breakers as they began to rush through Carmel’s press and right into their double-teams and traps.
Carmel’s run was halted for a while thanks to the Breakers’ defensive effort and some paint shots from Andrew Nimri (10). However, the Padres came rolling back with a few buckets of their own and a layup from Senior Warren Blut to bring the deficit within three–60-57–with 2:05 left on the clock. On the next possession, a costly steal prevented the Breakers from getting a shot off on the other end. However, as Carmel tried to push the ball, Wyatt Coe (10) picked off a pass from Warren Blut before dishing the ball to Sergen Serttunc for a go-ahead three with 1:23 left in the game–63-57. From there, the Breakers let the Padres play the foul game leading to a final score of 67-57 with victory going to Pacific Grove.
Andrew Nimri (10) led the game with 30 points on 10-18 shooting while Manzil Poudel (10) finished with 14 points going 3-3 from three-point range and 7-7 in overall field goals. Brody Edmonds (11) added 11 points to a total of 14 rebounds and 3 assists.
The Breakers continued their winning streak with a win at Everett Alvarez 52-40 before falling 62-54 at home against Oakwood.
