Mission Prep beats Atascadero in early-season showdown

Mission Prep junior Quinton Adlesh takes the ball to the basket against Atascadero on Friday night. By Owen Main

In a showdown between two teams featuring the top two players in San Luis Obispo County, Mission Prep beat Atascadero 74-65 on Friday night at the Arroyo Grande Optimist Tournament.

Robbie Berwick of Atascadero (attending Florida State next season) scored a game-high 27 points, including 17 in the second half. Quinton Adlesh, a Mission Prep junior, sscored 16 first half points to give the Royals 34-20 halftime advantage. Mission would push its lead all the way up to 20 in the third quarter before Atascadero made a run to get the game within six points a few times in the fourth quarter.

Adlesh and Berwick showed why they are both future Division 1 college basketball players, but it was the play of Adlesh’s supporting cast that made the difference. Senior Ben Covington guarded Berwick as well as you can, forcing him to early long-range shots with hands in his face. Covington also nailed a pair of three-pointers in the second quarter as Mission separated themselves on the scoreboard.

Freshman Kyle Stewart also had a very good game for Mission, knocking down some clutch shots in the second half as Mission improved to 3-0 on the young season.

Atascadero is now 2-1 this season.

Photos by Owen Main