REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - Following the first two meetings of the season which both featured fourth-quarter comebacks and dramatic finishes, Saturday’s CCS Division III boys basketball final between the St. Ignatius Wildcats and Sacred Heart Cathedral Fightin' Irish had plenty of hype to live up. That hype was surpassed before the first quarter even ended.
The storied rivals traded leads and emotion in a thrilling 32 minutes that saw the Wildcats walk away with the 70-66 win and their first CCS championship in six years with a win over their crosstown rivals, a win that was not sealed until Malcolm McCray-Hill's final free throw in the waning seconds of the game.
After a slow start, both teams heated up to close the first quarter, setting the tone for the rest of the game. As expected, both teams saw their leading scorers, King-Jhsanni Wilhite and Ray-John Spears, trade baskets early, as each player scored 10 points in the first quarter. Yet, it was Sacred Heart senior Kori McCoy who exploded in the second quarter, scoring 13 points in the period off of three three-point field goals, pushing the Irish to a nine-point halftime lead.
The Irish opened the second half scoring with another three-pointer on their first possession, pulling ahead by 12 and putting the Wildcats in their biggest hole of the game. Then, Giancarlo Toledo-Rivera picked up a shovel and dug the Cats out. Toledo-Rivera drained three three-pointers in a span of four minutes and put the Wildcats up 45-44 with two minutes left in the third quarter, and prompted the first of eight lead changes in the following six-minute span, as the teams traded leads into the fourth quarter.
Ray-John Spears and Kori McCoy led the Irish throughout the game, combining for 45 points (19 and 26, respectively) and 13 rebounds. The pair pushed the pace, playing strong transition basketball, tiring out the Wildcats and leading to easy baskets for the Irish. The pair continued their dominance into the fourth quarter, stepping up for a tired Irish team to keep Sacred Heart Cathedral in striking distance after a Wildcat run put SHC down by as much as five.
“We were never done,” Spears said following the game. “I knew who couldn’t stop me, and we knew how to get around them."
Although Wilhite showed flashes of dominance this season, he never played a consistent 32-minute game where he reached his full potential as a dominant floor general until Saturday. Wilhite carried the Wildcats throughout the game, diving to the rim and working good shots while posting a gaudy stat-line of 27 points, two assists and six rebounds.
“I knew that we just had to get back in the game,” Wilhite said. “I couldn’t let this team lose."
Even though Wilhite and Toledo-Rivera led the St. Ignatius scoring attack on Saturday, SI turned to their seniors to close the game. McCray-Hill and guard Kourosh Kahn-Adle each had moments to clinch the game for the Wildcats. Kahn-Adle thought he initially drained a dagger three with 80 seconds remaining that put the Wildcats up five. Yet clutch shots from Spears and McCoy kept the Irish in the game, setting up a potential game-tying shot for Spears that rimmed out. McCray-Hill snagged the rebound and sunk his second free throw to ice the game and put St. Ignatius up four.
“I asked those two guys early in the season if they could come off the bench and play this role,” SI coach Rob Marcaletti stated after the win. “And sure enough if was Malcolm and Koroush hitting those foul shots to ice the game."
Both teams are now awaiting their draw for the CIF NorCal playoffs, as both teams qualified as CCS finalists.
