BOYS BASKETBALL: Pinewood Depth Too Much for Bradshaw Christian

Pinewood 90, Bradshaw Christian 70

The Star: Pinewood big man Solomone Wolfgramm was an animal inside and on the glass once again Thursday night. The junior post scored a game-high 23 points and pulled down double digit rebounds yet again, helping his team jet to a 90-70 victory over Bradshaw Christian in a CIF State Boys Basketball Division V Second Round Game Thursday night at Pinewood School in Los Altos Hills.

Wolfgramm was one of four Pinewood players that finished in double figures in the postseason win. Kyle Riches scored 20 points, guard Dante Fraioli had 13 points and Bradley Naumann chipped in 11 points for the red-hot Panthers.

The Turning Point: Ahead by 15 points at the halftime break, Pinewood (23-5) pushed the advantage in the 20s midway through the third quarter. Armed with plenty of size inside and lots of depth off the bench, the Panthers continued to come in waves at its overwhelmed opponent.

Kyle Riches raced in for two points on the break, then watched teammate Dante Fraioli bury a deep triple on his teams next possession. The duo hooked up on another pretty steal and score a few minutes later to grow the Panthers lead to 21 points late in the quarter.

The Quote: “It was our kind of pace,” Pinewood head coach Jason Peery said after the big home win. “We knew that we had the better depth. Our spacing was great. Our cutting was great. We’re really confident in the whole group. Tonight we got contributions from a lot of different players.”

 One of the Panthers that flourished in the up-tempo atmosphere Thursday night was Dante Franoli.

 “We really wanted to come out strong and show that we were confident,” Fraioli said. “We just want to keep this going into the heart of NorCals. We made it clear that we weren’t going to lose in our home gym.”

 What's Next? Pinewood squares off against San Francisco University Saturday night at Pinewood School in Los Altos Hills. Since the girls Pinewood team won as well earlier on in the evening, the regional semifinal tip-time has not been determined yet.

Bottom Line: Both Pinewood and SF University lit it up for 90 points in second round play, setting up a juicy regional semifinal showdown on Saturday night between the No, 2 and No, 3 seeds. With solid play with Fraioli, Cameron Helvey and Bradley Naumann to go along with the usual stellar showings from Wolfgramm and Riches, Pinewood had the look of a team that’s not ready to lose any time soon.

—————————