After a 58-61 loss to Casa Grande last month at Cardinal Newman’s Rose City Tournament, followed by a 72-62 win at Casa Grande just a week later, San Marin varsity boys basketball proved themselves the winners of this best-of-three battle. The Mustangs prevailed over the Gauchos at the MLK-John Lewis Memorial Showcase at home on Saturday, Jan. 18 with a 70-54 win.
The tournament honored The Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lewis, two prominent Black American civil rights activists. The idea for this inaugural tournament belongs to head coach Chris Lavdiotis, who brought it with him from his coaching experience at Piedmont and Miramonte. Before the game, juniors Miller Morgan and Grant Means recited lines from Lewis’ 2014 Emory University commencement speech alongside Casa Grande senior Drew Bugbee, who recited a quote from King’s Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech.
While the day-long tournament honored King and Lewis, the San Marin matchup against Casa Grande also commemorated the 5th annual Pitti-Forni Classic. Coaches Craig Pitti and James Forni both passed away from cancer in the last decade. Mustangs assistant coach Jeff O’Brien and Gauchos assistant coach Rick Duarte followed the players’ speeches with their own, sharing the impact that Pitti and Forni had on the community; O’Brien had coached with Pitti for 13 years at San Marin, while Forni had coached at Casa Grande for 11 years. Instead of the customary moment of silence, in San Marin tradition, the crowd joined together in a moment of applause and appreciation.
What resonated most with Lavdiotis about this tournament was for the players and the crowd to understand the importance of honoring people who contributed so much to both the San Marin and Casa Grande communities.
“It’s not just basketball we’re doing here, it’s thinking about the world and our place in the world, and what we do in our own small way to make things better for everybody,” Lavdiotis said.
Within the first minute of the game, senior Zack Farbstein set a screen allowing Means to score the first three points for the Mustangs. Despite two more threes from Means and another from junior Jason Gillen, the Mustangs held a narrow 16-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Though the Mustangs lost their advantage and were down 27-32 late in the second quarter, they ultimately won back the upper hand by scoring six unanswered points in the last 1:06, breaking off at half-time with a score of 33-32.
For Lavdiotis, the most important part of this game was in the third quarter when a three-pointer brought the Mustang’s score from 38 to 41, setting the momentum for the rest of the game. From the third quarter on, San Marin had an easier time maintaining the lead, finishing the third quarter up 54-45 and ending the game at 70-54.
Means was the Mustang’s leading scorer, ending with 28 points. Morgan had a total of 11 rebounds (all defensive) and senior JD Rhodes finished with six assists. The Mustangs are now 2-1 against Casa Grande, with no more games against them this season.
