KENTFIELD, Calif. — Having suffered a gut punch at the end of regulation by allowing a game-tying basket with 1.7 seconds left, the Marin Catholic Wildcats wasted little time to retake momentum at the start of overtime.
Junior guard Nick Greenwood used some fancy dribbling on the first possession of the extra period to shake off a University defender before draining a three to put the Wildcats ahead for good in a 74-67 overtime win over the Red Devils to advance to the championship game of the 24th Bambauer Classic.
“Joey Bailey came and set a screen, and it gave me a little bit of space,” Greenwood said. “I didn’t hesitate and I just shot it.”
Greenwood’s 3-pointer would be the first of 17 points that Marin Catholic (7-4) would score over the extra four minutes, going 10-of-15 from the line in the process. A pair of Whitner Reichman free throws would cut the lead to 63-61 with 1:40 left, but junior center AJ Rohosy would get the decisive basket on the following possession, a three-point play with 1:12 remaining. Kyle Winters would make two free throws after a University turnover, and the Wildcats would parade to the line throughout the final minute to advance to the championship game of their own tournament for just the second time this decade. They’ll face Serra, 76-52 winners over Central Catholic, on Monday night at 8 p.m. in the title game.
“You could joke that this is the Serra Holiday Invitational Tournament hosted by Marin Catholic,” head coach Mike Saia said. “They’re a daunting task, but the way we’re playing right now, we’re not spooked by anyone.”
The Wildcats weren’t spooked on Saturday when University (7-5) tied the game with 1.7 seconds left in regulation as Raki Cabrera-Scarlata drove the length of the court and scored, and after a half-court try by Winters missed, the game went to overtime.
“We lost a tough one to Cardinal Newman in double OT, so to come back out here and finish it out, that’s huge for us,” Greenwood said.
Greenwood’s older brother, Joey, scored 20 to lead all scorers, while Rohosy had 17 to go with a game-high 11 rebounds. The Red Devils had a chance to take the lead in the final 10 seconds of regulation but saw Zack Beischer’s layup roll out, and Rohosy grabbed the rebound with 7.8 seconds left. He’d proceed to make one of two free throws, and after University head coach Randy Bessolo called timeout, Cabrera-Scarlata answered the call.
“All five of our losses, we’ve had a chance to win in the fourth quarter, and this was no different,” Bessolo said. “We’ve just got to learn from it.”
Neither team led by more than five until overtime, with the lead changing hands 11 times in regulation. A putback by Beischer, who led University with 17, gave the Devils a 46-45 lead, but back-to-back baskets by Nick Greenwood and a Logan Yroz three put the Wildcats up three with four minutes left. Rohosy would make it 56-51 with 2:28 left, but University would claw back on four of Christian Heng’s 14 points and tie it at the end of regulation with Cabrera-Scarlata’s heroics.
Cabrera-Scarlata finished with 10, as did Reichman, while Charlie Kennedy scored nine. Balance was key for both teams as each had four starters finish in double-figures, with Winters scoring 16 for the hosts.
“They’re a really well-balanced team, and probably the only edge we had was with AJ in the post,” Saia said. “We tried to exploit that, and he was really patient in getting shots, making plays and getting it out to our shooters.”
Urban 54, Lincoln 45
The Urban Blues played phenomenal defense in the fourth quarter to slow down a Lincoln offense reinvigorated by freshman guards Jeremyah and Justin Aquino, finishing the game on a 13-0 run for a 54-45 victory that doubled as a warning to all foes in the BCL West.
The Mustangs had previously beaten University and were locked in a dogfight with Stuart Hall until the final minutes, so for Urban to post a victory over Lincoln (8-3) officially puts the Blues’ league foes on alert.
The Aquino brothers didn’t play the first half after arriving late for warmups, but the moment they stepped on the floor in the second half, the Mustangs immediately picked up the pace. A three by Jeremyah on the opening possession and back-to-back threes by Justin put Lincoln up 36-28, and Kevin Xu would answer a basket by Ryan Pescherine to restore an eight-point lead.
Urban (9-3) then proceeded to allow just seven points over the game’s final nine minutes after allowing 15 over the prior seven, getting a Gavin Lee 3-pointer and a pair of Bryce Smith baskets to offset two James Walsh free throws and head into the fourth trailing just 40-37. Two of Nick Galvin’s 13 points would give the Mustangs a 43-39 advantage, but four straight free throws by Smith, who scored a game-high 21, would tie the game at 45.
“He didn’t start the game well, but when we needed him, he finished the game well,” head coach Joe Skiffer said of his diminutive point guard.
Smith had an assist on the go-ahead basket, firing an inbound pass the entire length of the court for a Pescherine lay-in. Andrew Christine, forced into playing time with Sean Koffman unavailable, hit a three on the next possession to open a five-point lead, and Jaydon Aquino (no relation to Lincoln’s Aquino brothers) scored from the baseline to all but seal the game.
Aquino, Christine and Pescherine each scored 10, with Pescherine’s eight rebounds tied with Walsh for the most of any man who saw the floor. Lincoln’s Aquino brothers each scored six only playing the second half. Their older brother, Jordan, is expected to miss two weeks after suffering a concussion in their opening game of the tournament, a loss to Central Catholic.
Westmoor 45, Mills 36
After struggling offensively for 24 minutes, including a second quarter in which they scored just four points, the Westmoor Rams earned constant trips to the free throw line in the fourth to scratch out a 45-36 win over the Mills Vikings, making 12 of 14 foul shots over the final eight minutes to earn the victory.
Trailing 34-30 with 3:59 left after a Michael Kahren and-1, Westmoor (3-7) got a three from Nathan Cote, and after a Vikings miss, Cote was fouled grabbing a rebound and made a pair of free throws with 3:07 left. Another basket by Kahren, who scored all of his seven points in the fourth, gave Mills (2-8) the lead once more, but Jasiah Cox hit a pair of free throws with 2:47 remaining to put the Rams up for good. Two more Cote free throws and four in the final minute from Niko Martinez, who finished with eight points and eight rebounds, would help provide the final margin.
Cote led the Rams with 12 and Cox scored 10, while Mills’ Michael Matsuno led all scorers with 15, knocking down five 3-pointers. Marcus Maravillas had eight points and four rebounds, and while Bobby Kontonis scored just one, he did have a game-high 10 boards.
