Bishop O'Dowd knocks off fourth-seeded Bellarmine
SAN JOSE >> Bishop O'Dowd went into Tuesday's CIF Northern California Division II boys basketball playoff game as the No. 13 seed and came out on top of a hard-fought battle at No. 4 Bellarmine, 48-46.
Despite the road win, O'Dowd coach Lou Richie was none too pleased with his team's performance.
“We had 18 turnovers against a non-pressing team,” Richie said. “They outrebounded us on the offensive boards 9-1 in the first half.”
The way the game started, it seemed as though the seeds should have been reversed. O'Dowd's ability on defense, trapping in the full court and out of an active halfcourt zone, led to a 16-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.
But Bellarmine (12-15) made a quick adjustment, spacing the floor and moving the ball before doubleteams arrived. The Bells scored the first 10 points of the second quarter to take the lead. It was a back and forth affair the remainder of the contest.
The Dragons led by two at halftime and by two again after three quarters. Sophomore post player Nick Corbett's bucket brought Bellarmine even at the beginning of the fourth quarter. A jumper by Cameron Brown put O'Dowd back on top and the visitors maintained the lead the rest of the way.
A pair of free throws by Daniel Wilson made it a 48-43 lead with 11 seconds left. Bellarmine's Brendan Launder hit a 3-pointer in the final seconds to account for the final margin.
“We never quit,” Bellarmine coach Patrick Schneider said. “We had so many great defensive hustle plays from guys who really wanted to compete tonight.”
Brown led all scorers with 17 points, but that isn't what stuck out to his head coach about his performance.
“He also had five turnovers and didn't play a lick of defense,” Richie said.
Corbett and Brody Pierson scored 12 points apiece for Bellarmine.
In something not seen very often in today's game, Bishop O'Dowd made zero 3-pointers.
“Amos Hodgson is one of the best 3-point shooters in Northern California,” Richie said. “He didn't make any tonight, but our turnovers and lack of rebounding is what hurt us.”
Bellarmine made five 3s, but needed to hit at least one more to change the outcome.
“I knew coming in we'd have open shots and needed to make them,” Schneider said. “We didn't have a great shooting night.”
After a 7-1 start to the season, Bellarmine lost 14 of its final 19 games. Against O'Dowd the Bells played without secondteam all-league performer, Theoren Brouillette, a Stanford volleyball commit, who was out with an injured shoulder.
“He would've guarded Cameron Brown,” Schneider said. “We never had to pause, but we were always missing one or two guys for five straight weeks. This group has a tremendous love for each other and love for Bellarmine basketball. We didn't win as many games as we would've liked, but these guys kept competing all the way to the final buzzer.”
O'Dowd (20-6) advances to play at No. 5 seed Vanden, a 59-38 winner over Menlo-Atherton, at 6 p.m. today at Solano Community College in Fairfield.
“We played them over the summer,” Richie said. “A little more athletic team than we faced tonight. Our focus will be on ourselves in order to get better.”