Sacred Heart Cathedral led the entire night in a 51-37 win over Piedmont Hills in the first round of the CCS Open Division tournament at Santa Clara High. With the victory, the Fightin' Irish (17-10) advance to take on Serra in the semifinals Wednesday night at Independence. The Pirates (22-7) take on El Camino in a consolation game Tuesday night at Independence.
The first quarter was extremely fast-paced for both teams, with four 3-pointers from Sacred Heart Cathedral. Although it started off as a one-sided game, with SHC junior guard Deondre Otis scoring an uncontested 3-pointer to bring the score to 14-7 for the Irish, the Pirates went on a one-minute 7-0 scoring run to tie the game. Piedmont Hills senior shooting guard JJ Espanola (8 points) ended the scoring for the first quarter with a hook shot over the Sacred Heart Cathedral defense, cutting the deficit to 18-16 at the end of one.
However, the second quarter was a completely different story. While the Irish scored an incredible 22 points, the Pirates only managed to score 4 points, bringing the score to 40-22. Although both teams took the same amount of shots, the Pirates had very few good looks. Sacred Heart Cathedral took advantage of the Pirates zone defense, as they took multiple uncontested shots from beyond the arc and were often able to find themselves unguarded in the paint.
“We handled their zone pretty well in the second quarter,” said Sacred Heart Cathedral coach Darrell Barbour. “When we move the ball, we’re pretty good.”
The Sacred Heart Cathedral defense was also outstanding, with three blocks and three steals in the quarter, each of which led to a fastbreak score. The Irish also out-rebounded Piedmont Hills 12-4.
The second half was a completely different story, as the focus of both teams shifted to defense. In the third quarter, the Irish only scored four points, while the Pirates scored six. With 4:05 left in the quarter, Piedmont Hills junior power forward Walter Bateast, who scored 17 points total, converted an and-1, and in the last 20 seconds, sophomore Rey Lowe scored the final three-pointer of the game.
The fourth quarter was a similar story, with each team scoring just seven points.
Sacred Heart Cathedral won the battle of the boards, out-rebounding Piedmont Hills, 44-32. The Irish hit 21 of 55 from the floor, while the Pirates managed just 12 of 46 on field goals.
