PIEDMONT, CA – Piedmont coach Mike Hudson expected Bishop O’Dowd would be a handful in the third quarter, and that expectation turned true in a 76-57 Dragons’ win on Wednesday night in a WACC season opener for both teams.
Elijah Hardy and William Chavarin scored 17 points apiece for O’Dowd, and the duo combined for 19 in a decisive third period in which the Dragons outscored the previously unbeaten Highlanders 27-14.
“That third period is where normally they take off,” Hudson said. “We knew they were going to come out with a little fire. We turned the ball over a few times and they got going. They’re one of the best teams in the nation for a reason.”
O’Dowd had an early 8-0 run and led 24-11 after one, but in the second Ben Barrett had 10 of his game-high 19 points to shave the margin to single digits. Then Hardy, who had fallen into early foul trouble, came out in the second half on fire. He and Chavarin made an impact on both ends of the floor, and the Dragons had four steals to help create more opportunities. The Washington-bound Hardy complimented his point total with five rebounds and four assists, and Chavarin had five boards as well.
“Our older players played a little bit more in the second half and were able to extend the lead,” Bishop O’Dowd coach Lou Richie said. “Great environment, the crowd stayed in the game. Their program is going in the right direction.”
Carvel Teft added 14 points for Piedmont (12-1), which had swept three tournaments in December, and was playing its first game since defeating Lower Lake on the 22nd. Iniko McNeil chipped in 10 points for Bishop O’Dowd (7-5), which began the season with four straight wins but had lost five of seven entering tonight, against elite competition. At tip-off, Bishop O’Dowd and Piedmont were ranked 2nd and 23rd respectively in the P2P Boys Basketball Rankings.
“I feel like we got better as a team this game and we played together towards the end,” Hardy stated. “We still have some learning curves. Our team chemistry has gotten a lot better even though we lost some tough games. That helped us even more than if we had won. At the beginning of the season we won and our heads got too high. You can never get too high or too low, just play together and come out as a team.”
