Priory wins California Division IV title as six players score in double digits

SACRAMENTO — For the first time in school history Priory (Portola Valley) has won the California Division IV championship with a 83-66 win over Fresno Christian (Fresno) on Saturday at the Golden 1 Center.

The Panthers trailed 48-42 and Fresno Christian had the momentum after senior Aden Millwee knocked down a 3-pointer with 6:09 left in the third. Then Priory senior Balazs Nyikos and junior Kasten Eggers, Noah Gallon and Mate Palotai scored 14 straight points before Fresno Christian stopped the bleeding.

With 1:29 left in the third Priory held a 56-50 lead. Then the Panthers scored eight more points in a row to end the third and head into the fourth quarter with a 64-50 lead.

“The way we play is fast and the pace is relentless offensively and defensively,” said Priory head coach David Moseley. “Over the course of the game it breaks people down. And I think that happened to them in the third quarter. ”

Moseley has a unique basketball pedigree and has been the head coach at Priory since 2008. Before that he played college basketball at Stanford, where he was a part of the last Cardinal team that played in the 1998 Final Four at the Alamodome in San Antonio. In the final game of his college career, he had 17 points against North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament.

The Panthers had six players score at least 10 points and were led by Palotai and Nyikos who each had 16.

“You could give the ball up but you know it can still get back to you,” said Gallon, who had 10 points. “At the end of the day everybody is gonna eat. We had six scorers in double-digits which is why we were successful today.”

Sophomore Teddy Xanthopoulos also had 15 and junior Jai Gerrodette scored 13. Eggers chipped in 10.

Fresno Christian led 38-37 at the half and led by as many as six points twice in the game.

The Eagles were led by 21 points from junior Devin Gaines while classmate Noah Coulton dropped in 18. Millwee had 14 points.

“We hung tough and we just couldn’t quite get going like we did in the first half,” said Fresno Christian head coach Jon Penberthy. “That third quarter was a little bit of a shock.”