Ben Covington takes the ball to the basket on Friday night. By Owen Main

Mission Prep had Oaks Chrstian in their sights. Once down by 20 in the first half, the Royals cut the deficit to five on a three-pointer by junior Quinton Adlesh. Brandon Jones, Patrick Laird, Kerney Lane and Kyle Stewart had clawed their way back into the game against the longer, faster Lions.

Oaks Christian was in the middle of a scoring drought. Adlesh’s three-pointer with over four minutes remaining sent the crowd into a frenzy. The gym was as loud as it would be all night.

Then Kenny Smith, Jr. did his thing. The Oaks Christian junior and son of former NBA player and slam-dunk champion Kenny Smith drove left, pulled-up from 15-feet, and hit the biggest shot of the night. The crowd temporarily hushed and, for the first time, Mission started to play a little desperately, and Oaks Christian was able to get the stops they needed to seal the game.

Kenny Smith, Jr. was a huge key to Oaks Christian’s first-half run that saw them lead by 20 points. By Owen Main

Mission, who hasn’t lost a game to a San Luis Obispo County team since (what seems like) the Eisenhower administration, was the last boys team left in the county. Oaks Christian will move-on to the 4-AA final next week.

The match-up also featured two players on opposite teams who might be future teammates. Aleksandr Abrams, the Oaks Christian center, verbally committed to play at Cal Poly earlier this season. Mission Prep’s Adlesh has one official offer so far — also from Cal Poly.

Toughest thing on the world to look in the eyes of our seniors.Love you guys and thank you.Appreciate all the support from the crowd #TeamMP

— Quinton Adlesh (@QuintonAdlesh) March 1, 2014

Photos by Owen Main

[See image gallery at www.fansmanship.com]

Mission Prep junior Quinton Adlesh takes the ball to the basket against Atascadero on Friday night. By Owen Main

In a showdown between two teams featuring the top two players in San Luis Obispo County, Mission Prep beat Atascadero 74-65 on Friday night at the Arroyo Grande Optimist Tournament.

Robbie Berwick of Atascadero (attending Florida State next season) scored a game-high 27 points, including 17 in the second half. Quinton Adlesh, a Mission Prep junior, sscored 16 first half points to give the Royals 34-20 halftime advantage. Mission would push its lead all the way up to 20 in the third quarter before Atascadero made a run to get the game within six points a few times in the fourth quarter.

Adlesh and Berwick showed why they are both future Division 1 college basketball players, but it was the play of Adlesh’s supporting cast that made the difference. Senior Ben Covington guarded Berwick as well as you can, forcing him to early long-range shots with hands in his face. Covington also nailed a pair of three-pointers in the second quarter as Mission separated themselves on the scoreboard.

Freshman Kyle Stewart also had a very good game for Mission, knocking down some clutch shots in the second half as Mission improved to 3-0 on the young season.

Atascadero is now 2-1 this season.

Photos by Owen Main

[See image gallery at www.fansmanship.com]