Playoffs await Saints after breakout regular season
In only his second year as the coach at Mission College, head man Antonio Veloso led his team to a dramatic 11-game turnaround and a berth in the CCCAA NorCal playoffs. The Saints received the #23 NorCal seed and will head to #10 Santa Rosa Wednesday (2/28) for a 7:00pm contest against the Bear Cubs (18-10, 10-6 Big 8), a 2023 Final Four team.
Veloso's squad wrapped up an 18-10 regular season – the Saints were 7-20 in 2023 – with a convincing 83-53 win over former Mission coach Corey Cafferata and the Foothill Owls Friday night in Santa Clara. The Saints also blasted the Owls 85-54 in Los Altos on Jan. 31.
The Saints (18-10, 8-4 Coast-South) raced to a 27-5 first quarter lead against the Owls (10-18, 5-7) that was extended to 50-14 at halftime. Lali Montesino posted a 33-point, 10-rebound double-double, along with four assists, four steals and a blocked shot. Alli Dioli also recorded a double-double with 13 points and 14 boards in addition to six steals and a blocked shot. Ciana Mayorquin added 15 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Mission also dominated Coast-South individual statistics during the regular season. Montesino (20.6) just edged Dioli (20.0) for second in the conference scoring race, while Addy Munoz topped the league in rebounding with 11.1 RPG, which was fifth best in the 3C2A. Montesino and Dioli finished 11th and 13th, respectively, in the state in scoring average.
Montesino also led the conference with 3.0 steals per game, while Hannah Rankin was second in assists with 5.0 APG. Dioli recorded 7.9 RPG, 4.8 APG and 3.3 steals-per game, and Montesino finished the year with 7.2 RPG, 3.5 APG and 3.0 SPG. Mayorquin finished 2023-24 with 8.1 PPG and 7.0 RPG.