O’Dowd falls in NorCal final
It wasn’t how it was supposed to end. Not for the players on Bishop O’Dowd-Oakland’s basketball team.
Especially four-year lettermen and collegebound seniors Naseem Gaskin and Elijah Hardy, who hoped for a state title to match the one they won as freshmen.
The two, who combined for more than 60 percent of O’Dowd’s points Saturday, had Sheldon-Sacramento down four in the final two minutes.
But Sheldon (29-5) pulled out a 61-60 victory before a capacity crowd at Santa Clara University to claim the CIF Northern California Open Division championship.
Hardy, who will play at Washington, had 24 points, made 11 of 13 freethrow tries, but he missed two key ones in the final two minutes. Gaskin, a Utah signee, finished with 13 points for the secondseeded Dragons (27-6), who had their win streak snapped at 22 games.
Dom Johnson had 16 points, Dale Currie 13, Kaito Williams 11 and Justin Nguyen 10 for the Huskies, who lost in this same game at Leavey last year.
Up 56-53 after three free throws by Hardy, Johnson went in for a basket. Hardy made 1 of 2 foul shots, making it 57-55.
Sheldon then scored six straight, capped by a steal, coast-to-coast drive and spinning basket by Currie. After an O’Dowd miss, Johnson fed Ronald Agesbar for a big slam, making it 61-57 with 10 seconds left. William Chavarin hit a threepointer with 0.5 of a second left, but O’Dowd did not get the ball back.
“The kids played hard,” O’Dowd head coach Lou Richie said. “We got a little control at the end. But Sheldon has competitive kids. Kudos to them.
“Naseem and Elijah had great careers. They’re great kids, great competitors. They left their mark on Northern California basketball.”
Las Lomas-Walnut Creek 44,
Palo Alto 41: The Knights, who averaged almost 70 points per game, scored a season-low 44 but it didn’t matter. The second-seeded Knights (31-3) locked down on defense, got timely shots and free throws by Nathan Robinson (18 points) and held off Palo Alto’s fourthquarter rally to win the Division 1 title at Santa Clara University. The win vaulted Las Lomas into next week’s state-title game against Chino Hills and helped erase a bad memory for coach Brian Dietschy, who lost in the NorCal final 30 years ago with the Knights. Within the first 10 minutes after the game, Dietschy received close to 30 texts from his former classmates and teammates, congratulating him on the win. “I have to admit it,” he said. “This is the best team in Las Lomas history.” Surprisingly, the team that stretches defenses with its offense won the game on the other end. The eighth-seeded Vikings (26-4), who lost a NorCal final for the second year in a row, made 12 of 45 shots (26 percent) and committed 16 turnovers. Only Max Dorward (10 points) scored in double figures. Palo Alto scored a combined 13 points in the middle two quarters. Robinson did most of the defensive work on Dorward, who made 4 of 11 shots. “All year defense was the backbone of our team,” said Dietschy, which drew a few raised eyebrows from teammates in the postgame media room. Robinson “was our stopper all year and he was again tonight.” Las Lomas seemed to take command with a 12-2 run, keyed by three baskets by Devin Payne, the last coming on one of the game’s few fastbreak hoops. That gave Las Lomas a 35-25 lead midway through the fourth. Palo Alto clawed back with a 12-5 run, finished by a three-pointer by Jared Wulbrun. That made it 40-37 with 1:18 to go. Alameda 76, St. Mary’sStockton 66: Benno Zecic scored seven of his team-high 17 points in overtime to help lead the host Hornets (28-5) over the Rams (26-9) in the NorCal Division 2 final. Alameda advances to face Crossroads-Santa Monica in the state final in Sacramento next Saturday. The Hornets led most of the way, at one point by 11, but St. Mary’s fought back to force the overtime. Alameda was trying to run clock late in regulation when Ryan Cibull couldn’t get free as the shot clock was running down. As Cibull stumbled, Bryce Johnson stole the ball and soared in for a thunderous, two-handed dunk to tie the score. The Rams then scored the opening basket of overtime, taking their first lead since the opening minutes. But Alameda then scored 12 consecutive points to take control. Sam Wettergren scored the tying basket. Zecic then took over, putting the Hornets up with a basket and nailing a three-pointer to give them breathing room again.
Stuart Hall 68, St. Mary’sBerkeley 62: Down 17 after the first quarter, visiting and ninthseeded Stuart Hall (23-11) pulled out its first Northern California championship with a win over third-seeded St. Mary’s (19-15) in Division 4.