Boys basketball: Carr has big scoring night as Redwood tops Branson

Redwood High’s Semetri Carr was the center of attention as his new team squared off against his former one in the marquee boys basketball game as MCAL play opened on Friday night.

Carr, who helped vault The Branson School into the Northern California Open Division tournament a year ago, showed no mercy against his former teammates, pouring in 35 points and pulling down 12 rebounds as the Giants erased an early 12-point deficit en route to a 61-54 victory before an overflow crowd in Larkspur.

“Sure, there was a lot of emotion facing my former team for the first time,” said Carr, who at one point scored 18 consecutive Redwood points. “But at the end of the day, it’s basketball. Once you step on the court all you care about is that you want to win.”

The reason Carr is at Redwood instead of Branson is a long story. But the abridged version is he planned to go to a special basketball school this season and after those plans fell through, Carr decided he would close out his final year at a public school.

“He’s going to help any team he’s on,” Redwood coach Jay DeMaestri said. “A lot of the things he does on the court are special – and he does that on a nightly basis.”

Early on, Branson seemed intent on making Carr pay for his decision.

The Bulls took the lead late in the opening quarter and their 10-0 run vaulted them to a 25-13 advantage more than halfway through the second stanza when NJ Gray drove baseline for a layup, was fouled and converted the old school three-point play.

At that point, perhaps Carr had seen enough of his old school’s domination.

Whatever the reason, Carr scored the final 10 points of the half and added an exclamation-point with a nothing but net step-back three-point jumper at the buzzer to give the Giants (8-5, 1-0) a 28-26 lead, their first since midway through the first period.

“He took over the game,” DeMaestri said. “He does special things, especially when he gets rolling after hitting a three-point shot or something like that. Then he starts drawing fouls. He went to the line 21 times and made 17 of them.”

Carr was only warming to the task at the end of the first half. He also accounted for Redwood’s first eight points of the second half as he kept countering Branson’s Chase Robertson, who scored six points of his own to kick off the third period.

“We were struggling,” Carr said. “I had to get the basketball and do anything I could to find a way to help us win.”

Carr buried another deep three near the end of the third, but Branson would not go away and the Bulls were still within two points at the end of three when Robertson scored on a spinning move to the basket.

Carr, however, was relentless – and flashy.

He scored on a ridiculous reverse layup as the Giants pulled away a bit 54-48.

Branson clawed back within two points on a pair of free throws by Gray, who led the Bulls with 22 points.

But Carr would not hear of a comeback by Branson.

He got big air on a couple of crucial rebounds and finished it off with two free throws with nine seconds remaining.

Carr was the only Redwood player to reach double figures in scoring but big post Simon Leonard had five rebounds, two blocked shots and six points – all in the fourth quarter. Brennan Woodley also added six point for the Giants, all from the line.