by Alex Valdes
It seems that senior forward Jeff Schram always has been in someboy's shadow, always the second guy mentioned when discussion turns to the success of Pinewood High boys basketball. Last season, the spotlight was on senior center Greg Mann, the Private School Athletic League's Player of the Year. This season, most eyes have been trained on senior guard Court Gardner, the team's top scorer.
Schram shifted the limelight his way, however, in Saturday's 67-57 victory over Redwood Christian in the Central Coast Section Division V championship at the San Jose State Event Center. He scored a game-high 26 points, making an astounding 12 of 13 field-goal attempts, and also had six rebounds and five assists.
"All of my shots I was hitting off of assists," said Schram, downplaying his effort. "I was just at the right place at the right time."
Gardner had only 11 points--two in the first half--and made five of 13 shots. Normally deadly from long range, he didn't make a three-point shot until late in the fourth quarter. He did, however, add eight rebounds and five assists.
"At the end of the first half, I realized I wasn't shooting as well," Gardner said, "But I saw that Jeff Schram was having a real good night."
Schram's effort was simply another illustration of why Pinewood (25-1) keeps on winning--everyone contributes and performs their roles. That will be essential Thursday when the Panthers battle Victory Christian at Sacred Heart Prep (7:30 p.m.) in the first round of the Northern California Division V playoffs.
Against PSAL rival Redwood Christian (14-13), Schram found the open areas behind the Redwood press, scoring on layups off the fast break, hitting short jump shots or cutting to the hoop for buckets. It neutralized Redwood's press and helped Pinewood lead the entire game.
Schram also scored six straight Panther points early in the fourth quarter on a 11-5 run that made the score 58-43.
"We've been working on that (beating the press) the last few weeks," Schram said. "We executed real well today."
Many other Panthers contributed. Center Adam Bingham had 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists; Lund Smith recorded 10 points, six on a pair of three-point goals in the first half; and Nouhad Husseini dished off seven assists. Pinewood made 28 of 45 field goals, a .622 average.
"It's been a real team effort," said first-year coach Mark Gardner. "Everyone has to play well for us to be successful."
Just like this season, Pinewood was the top seed in last year's CCS Division V playoffs, but was upset by Sacred Heart Prep in the championship. Schram & Co. made sure there would be no repeat of that misfortune.
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