By Joe Davidson
Jdavidson@sacbee.com
Sluggish and fatigued for 3½ quarters after two impressive wins since Wednesday and facing a superbly coached powerhouse program, top-ranked Jesuit High School pulled to within two with 18.8 seconds left on a Parker Uu runner, but Newark Memorial iced it on the line for a 56-50 victory in the nightcap of the Father Kelly Tribute at Jesuit on Saturday.
All told, regional teams went 3-1 against the heavies from the North Coast Section in the 10th annual showcase event, with No. 7 Franklin beating Freedom of Oakley in the opener 53-46, No. 8 Foothill downing Deer Valley 57-45 despite losing star Michael Bryson for most of the second half with an ankle injury and No. 2 Pleasant Grove held off Berkeley 57-52.
There was no shame for Jesuit falling to Newark, a longtime North Coast Section power, and a club Jesuit beat at the buzzer on a Uu jumper in the Gridley Invitational on Dec. 9, but what irked Marauders coach Greg Harcos was a breakdown on fundamentals. Jesuit harbos Sac-Joaquin, NorCal and State title hopes with a veteran roster that has played the part of contender most of the season.
Jesuit (13-3) was impressive in winning the Sand Dunne Classic in San Francisco last week, edging NorCal power McClymonds in Oakland on Wednesday and routing Granite Bay on Friday but fell behind early against Newark (10-4).
The Cougars led by 12 midway through the fourth before Jesuit chipped away, with Uu hitting a three-pointer to pull to within 50-46 with 1:56 to go. The senior guard then hit Brian Glodowski for an inside pass to cut it to 52-48 with 1:30.
Casey Norris, Newark's superb senior guard, had four late free throws and 26 points.
Uu had 18 points and Kurt Parker 13.
Harcos told his team that they relied too much on 1-on-1 play, didn't move the ball and didn't defend well enough, and all of those areas have to improve with the Delta River League schedule looming, including No. 2 Sheldon on Friday.
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