By Devin Bradshaw

Special to Las Positas athletics

The good news from Las Positas' lopsided loss to the defending state champions: now they know.

The Hawks soared into the biggest game of their season. The Hawks ranked No. 7 in the latest state poll. They rode a six-game win streak. They were 19-1, with four wins against ranked opponents.

But after a 78-59 loss to City College of San Francisco, ranked No. 2 in California, in the Coast Conference-North Division, the Hawks know what big games feel like. They have firsthand experience of what winning at this level requires.

Las Positas (19-2) has aspirations of returning to the state tournament. But this iteration of the Hawks lack experience against California's highest level. With only three returners on the roster, all of which were reserves on last year's Elite Eight squad, the Hawks learned a valuable lesson Wednesday from the Rams (20-1).

Coach James Giacomazzi sees that as a positive. Seven of the Hawks' 19 wins came by 30 points or more. They played five ranked opponents heading into Wednesday's game, winning four of them — including a win at West Valley and a 28-point blowout of San Mateo.

But San Francisco is a different animal. Under coach Justin Labagh, the Rams have won five state championships. They keep Division I talent on their roster — this time they're led by 6-foot-9 wing Kenyon DeMuynck — and play cohesively on both ends of the floor.

"You try to learn while you're winning," Giacomazzi said, "and, unfortunately, sometimes you've got to learn the hard way. I think that's what we did tonight."

Many of the lessons Giacomazzi has been teaching his young team came to life against San Francisco. The finer elements they work on in practice and point out in film sessions were driven home by the loss.  

"What it does is it exposes potential areas of weakness that we've talked about," Giacomazzi said. "Maybe we worked on it in practice. Maybe we've shown it in film. But it maybe wasn't received all the way because we were still able to come out positive on the other end. Meaning, like, 'We're going to win anyway' or, 'This detail doesn't really matter.' "

Beating San Francisco required maximum effort and elite execution. The Hawks now have experience with how important that is to winning at a high level. Which is the level they want to reach.

In the first half Wednesday, Las Positas looked like a team ready for the challenge. They hustled for loose balls, attacked the offensive glass, attacked the rim relentlessly. They made things tough for the Rams' offense early on.

But Las Positas managed just three points over the final six minutes of the first half, slowed by San Francisco's zone and DeMuynck's shot-blocking. In the second half, San Francisco turned up the pressure and pulled away.

"This was very similar to last year's game here," Giacomazzi said. "Where they're going to load up the defense to the strong side. And if we don't pass and cut and move effectively and crisply, then it (becomes trying) to beat people off the dribble and try to just win your one-on-one matchups."

The Hawks came into the game ranked No. 5 in the state in scoring at 87 points per game. They do much of that without shooting three-pointers. They made 103 from beyond the arc over, the fewest of any team ranked in the top 25 in the state in scoring.

Las Positas dominates with multiple players who can create off the dribble, led by Jaden Woodard and Kodey Weary. They punish teams in the paint. But San Francisco boasts one of the best defenses in the state and the Rams are especially good with on-ball defense. They also packed the paint with a zone and eliminated driving lanes.

So now the Hawks know the importance of ball movement.  

"I thought we were hungry in the first half and we did some things," the coach said. "But it was hard to score. We were working so hard and so I don't think that we had to work this hard to score."

One of the bright spots was sophomore reserve Isaiah Minor. He averaged 3.7 points over his last 10 games. But in the big game, his finishing at the rim and his under-control style of play put him in good positions to score. He finished with 11 key points off the bench. A nice addition to sophomore forward, Kodey Weary, Las Positas' top scorer, with 14 in the game. Minor's production off bench could be big for the Hawks moving forward. A place to turn on offense out of the one-on-one play of Woodard and Weary gives the Hawks more options offensively.

Though they came up short they have felt what the playoffs will feel like. There aren't many teams comparable to CCSF, and Las Positas can take these lessons to improve going forward. 

The Hawks will look to bounce back Friday, January 30, at home against Cañada.