Ramsey gets 1,000th point in loss to Serra

By JEREMY SELLEW

jsellew@yourmvi.com

California’s Malik Ramsey scored his 1,000th career point in Friday night’s Section 3-2A contest against Serra Catholic, but it was the Eagles who were celebrating as they headed to the locker room.

Big performances by Jayden Bristol and Josiah Pais helped push Serra Catholic into first place in the section with a 71-63 win.

Bristol scored 26 points and Pais finished with 21 points and 15 rebounds as Serra Catholic (4-4, 3-0) dominated the boards.

“We came in here and did what we wanted to do,” Serra Catholic coach Justin Walther said. “We saw some things on film and we knew they had a lot of holes. We just went out and exploited those things.”

The teams started things off at a frantic pace with the Eagles leading 17-16 at the end of the first quarter.

Knowing Ramsey needed only 15 points to hit his milestone, the Trojans didn’t force things and let the game come to them.

Kwondre Porter hit a pair of 3-pointers in the opening eight minutes as a 6-0 run gave the Trojans (5-5, 1-2) a quick 14-11 lead, but the Eagles answered with a 6-2 stretch in the final minute as Bristol scored the last four points of the frame.

Ramsey finished with four points in the first, a credit to the defense of Serra’s Mark Thomas.

“I wasn’t really pleased with our defensive effort as a whole, but Mark did a great job on Malik,” Walther said. “I really wanted to get into him and didn’t want him to catch the ball. I thought California did a good job playing under control. They didn’t try to force it to him.”

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