The St. Monica boys’ basketball team will play Crean Lutheran in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 4A playoffs. The Mariners will host Crean Lutheran, which plays out of the Academy League, this Wednesday.
St. Monica finished the regular season with a 15-11 overall record and 6-4 mark in Camino Real League play. The Mariners finished in third place in the Camino Real League, behind Cathedral and Cantwell-Sacred Heart. For the postseason, the Mariners’ hopes lies in the scoring output of Spencer Gorman, Dennis Ashley and Kavin Dotson.
All three average just over 12 points a game. Ashley leads the team in scoring with 336 points for the season. Dotson is not too far behind him with 315 points scored. Gorman has put 306 points thus far for the Mariners. Ashley shoots just about as well from 3-point range (36 percent) as he does from anywhere else on the floor (40 percent).
Ashley has been the go-to scorer for the Mariners over the last month, so getting him going early will go a long way into determining how far this team will go in the postseason. The Mariners average over 60 points and 33. 5 rebounds per game.
But the real key for the Mariners will be how well they rebound and control the boards. This is where the play of Gorman is crucial. Gorman is going to critical to the Mariners’ success in the playoffs with his ability to grab rebounds at a relentless pace.
Gorman has snatched down 215 rebounds (8.7 rpg) on the season, by far the best production on boards by any St. Monica player. Gorman has had 10 games this season where he has claimed double figures in rebounding, with a season-high of 15 boards against South High School.
