Cougars made statement with win over DLS
CONCORD » Ever since the California Interscholastic Federation Norcal regional playoffs began, the Campolindo boys basketball team has insisted it was disrespected by being seeded seventh in the Division I bracket.
Whether the Cougars were or not depends on whom you talk to. As for the team, it backed its words Tuesday night, beating De La Salle 54-49 to claim back-to-back Norcal titles.
It was a tough few days for both Campo and De La Salle leading up to Tuesday’s contest.
Fourth-seeded DLS was supposed to play at No. 1 seed Riordan on Saturday, but that game was postponed because of a possible coronavirus case at the San Francisco school. The Spartans had already arrived for the game when Riordan officials asked for a delay until Monday.
When one of the school’s students — not a basketball player — tested positive, Riordan withdrew from the tournament.
That set up Tuesday night’s meeting at De La Salle.
“You feel bad for them,” Campolindo coach Steven Dyer said of Riordan, which beat Campo 76-62 in middecember. “It sucks to have your season end without a game. But it’s something you can’t control. We won at Capital Christian, we won at Salesian, we won here. Anyone who tries to minimize what we did, I don’t think it’s fair.”
Campolindo (26-6) opened the playoffs by beating a battle-tested Serra team in Moraga. Then it took down the second, third and fourth seeds on the road by a grand total of eight points.
“One of our problems during the first part of the year was winning close games,” Dyer said. “But we needed to go through those struggles to win these games.”
The Cougars led 41-23 in the third quarter, but De La Salle mounted a comeback, outscoring Campo 11-4 for the rest of the period to make it 45-34. DLS (24-7) then went on a 13-5 run to start the fourth period, closing to 50-47.
But sophomore Aidan Mahaney hit four straight free throws in the final minute to seal the win for the Cougars.
Mahaney finished the game with nine points. His older brother Carter Mahaney contributed 15 and Emmanuel Callas led all scorers with 18.
“Campolindo was physical, they didn’t foul, they are really experienced. You could tell,” De La Salle coach Justin Argenal said. “When we made our run, they didn’t get rattled.”