Santa Clara Enjoys Banner Night Against Rio Mesa

Basketball teams do not come to Santa Clara High for the game, really. They come to Santa Clara to measure up. To stand beneath the 9 Southern Section championship banners that dangle like large strands of litmus paper; to test their mettle.

Rio Mesa came knocking Friday night, ready to take its best shot at Santa Clara, the top-ranked team in the 2-A Division. And the Spartans came with credentials of their own--namely, the No. 2 ranking among 4-A teams.

Rankings, however, do not produce even a flutter among the banners, or in the hearts of the Saints players, and Santa Clara pounded Rio Mesa, 69-48, in a nonleague game.

Shon Tarver, a junior transfer from Rim of the World, scored 29 points, including the finale: a double-pump windmill slam dunk with 40 seconds left that even brought a smile to the face of 31-year veteran Coach Lou Cvijanovich. He is not usually known for such outward displays of mirth.

Cvijanovich, who does not allow his players to speak to the press, said of Tarver: “I say it was the Santa Clara High School basketball team. Shon was excellent, don’t get me wrong.”

Tarver, a 6-foot, 5-inch forward, had 20 points in the second half when the Saints outscored Rio Mesa, 41-21. After missing his last 5 shots of the first half, Tarver made 8 of 9 in the second half.

And while Tarver was doing his thing, the Spartans were falling apart. They made 17 of 62 field-goal attempts and 12 of 22 free throws.

“It’s weird,” Rio Mesa Coach Steve Wolf said. “The only thing I can say is it’s an embarrassment.”

Eric Thomas, the Spartans’ 6-6 forward who averaged 19 points in their first 5 games, scored just 6. Teammate Jeff Garner scored a team-high 16 points--10 below his season average--on 5-of-19 shooting.

“We just weren’t hitting from the outside,” Garner said. “And I wasn’t on tonight.”

Wolf called the debacle a lack of discipline in all phases of the game. He brushed aside references to playing at Santa Clara, where the gym was filled to capacity.

It was the first game between the schools since the 1983-84 season when both were members of the Frontier League. The Spartans have since moved to the Channel League.

“This gym is no big deal,” Wolf said. “Santa Clara is a well-coached, well-disciplined team. You play good teams, you have to come in and do what you want to do.”

Rio Mesa trailed by only a point at halftime despite its second-worst shooting half of the season.

The worst was still to come.

The Spartans were 9 of 31 from the field and 8 of 15 from the line but scrambled at the end of the second quarter to pull within 28-27.

Behind, 28-16, Rio Mesa finished with 11 consecutive points to set up a second-half run that never materialized. Lester Smith started the blitz with a tip off Ahmet Baras’ miss, then Garner, who missed 11 of his first 14 shots, followed with a slam dunk on the front end of a fast break. He was fouled and converted the free throw.

Baras, who had 4 steals in the second half, scored the quarter’s final 6 points. Baras finished with 14 points.

Wolf came onto the court at halftime and apologized. “That’s as bad as we can play,” he said. “You’ve just seen it.”

He was wrong. The Saints went on a 13-2 run to start the second half en route to a 41-29 lead midway through the third period.

Rio Mesa never got as close as 7 points again.

Point guard Art Santana scored 16 points for the Saints--10 in the second half. Forward Bubba Burrage scored 10.

Santa Clara was 23 of 42 from the field, including 9 of 12 in the fourth quarter when the Saints outscored Rio Mesa, 21-12.