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Sports

BOYS BASKETBALL: McGrath, Serra Top Burlingame

Padres senior guard scores career-high 29 points, Burlingame no match for aggressive Serra defense.

The Score: Serra 62, Burlingame 41.

The Star: Serra High senior guard Connor McGrath scored a career-high 29 points and added four rebounds and three assists as the Padres proved too much for visiting Burlingame on Friday night.

The Turning Point: Serra High's defense forced 15 turnovers and held Burlingame to 2 of 15 shooting in the first half while building a 26-13 lead.

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The Quote: "Connor did everything but sweep the gym floor and sell hot dogs after. Connor was huge and Connor hit baskets right when they were starting to make runs. He made me look good. We had some broken sets and Connor made a play on his own. He was on fire and that's as good as I've seen him shoot the ball." -- Serra coach Chuck Rapp, on senior guard Connor McGrath.

What's Next? Serra hosts Woodside today at 4:30 p.m. Burlingame plays Wallenberg in the opening round of the Bellarmine Tournament on Dec. 22.

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The Bottom Line: Serra proved decisively that it is the best team in San Mateo County.

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Connor McGrath has had better offensive games but you have to go back a while. The Serra High senior guard scored a career-high 29 points on Friday to lead the Padres to a surprisingly easy 62-41 win over visiting Burlingame in battle for San Mateo County supremacy.

McGrath made nine of 17 shots, including four of seven 3-pointers. He added four rebounds and three assists.

"The whole week I had been shooting by myself in the gym and I guess it just paid off," McGrath said. "I got lucky on a couple of those shots."

Said Serra coach Chuck Rapp, "Connor did everything but sweep the gym floor and sell hot dogs after. Connor was huge and Connor hit baskets right when they were starting to make runs. He made me look good. We had some broken sets and Connor made a play on his own. He was on fire and that's as good as I've seen him shoot the ball."

Added Burlingame's Kyle Shaffer, "He lit it up. He's really good. There's nothing we can do when he's shooting it so well."

McGrath started slowly with just two points in the first quarter. The star for Serra (4-1) was its defense, which was dominant from the beginning. Burlingame standout Rodrigo Puliceno scored the first basket of the game, then added just one field goal the rest of the way, finishing with nine points. Meantime, the Padres answered Puliceno's early bucket with a 15-0 run that carried into the early part of the second quarter.

It was at that point that McGrath caught fire, scoring 10 points in the period as Serra built the lead to 26-13 at halftime. Meantime, the Padres' defense continued to frustrate Burlingame (5-2), forcing 15 turnovers in the first half. When Zach Grotz made a basket with two minutes, 35 seconds to go in the half, it was just the second field goal Burlingame had made as a team. The Panthers finished the first half 2 of 15 from the field.

"Our whole thing was defensive pressure, ball-pressure and be physical," Rapp said. "We really emphasized that. Getting into the ball, denying the wings, three-quartering the post. Just old-school, pressure basketball.

"I told the team they should be really proud. That's a very good Burlingame team and to hold them to two field goals in 16 minutes means we were doing something right."

Shaffer had to come out to the top of the key for most of the night to help deal with the pressure, taking him away from his normal spot down low on the block. He finished with just one field goal and four points and four rebounds.

"They pressured really hard and they really get you out of your offense," Shaffer said. "We didn't get the ball where we wanted. We were just playing the outside game and our game is to go inside."

Any thoughts of a comeback ended when McGrath came out and buried three 3-pointers in the third quarter en route to 12 more points. You have to go back to eighth grade at St. Pius to find a game when McGrath scored more – he put up 47 in a game back then.

He was the only Padre in double-figures – Henry Caruso and Sam Leahy each had seven points. Grotz led Burlingame with 13.

Serra finished 21 of 41 from the field and the Panthers finished 10 of 36.

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Serra 62, Burlingame 41

B -- 2 11 13 15 -- 41

S -- 13 13 23 13 -- 62

BURLINGAME

Bailey 1 3-5 5, Grotz 3 6-8 13, Ferrari 0 0-0 0, Puliceno 2 5-6 9, Shaffer 1 2-4 4, Loew 0 1-2 1, Feinberg 0 1-2 1, Haupt 1 0-0 3, DeQuant 1 0-0 3, Winnett 1 0-1 2. Totals: 10 18-28 41.

SERRA

McGrath 9 7-10 29, Barsocchini 2 0-0 6, Caruso 3 1-1 7, Grosey 1 1-2 3, Regina 0 1-2 1, Swinney 0 0-0 0, Pacheco 3 0-0 6, Leahy 2 2-2 7, B. Cordery 0 0-0 0, Santo 0 0-0 0, Jimenez 1 1-2 3, I. Cordery 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21 13-19 62.

3-point goals: BURL – Grotz, Feinberg, DeQuant. Total: 3. SER – McGrath 4, Barsocchini 2, Leahy. Total: 7.

Fouled out: Swinney. Technicals: Burlingame coach Jeff Dowd, Puliceno.

Records: Serra 4-1, Burlingame 5-2.

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