Miramonte suffers more heartbreak in regional playoffs
ORINDA >> Chris Lavdiotis and a couple of his Miramonte basketball players sat silently on the bench after the game Tuesday night. They had lofty dreams as the regional playoffs got underway, dreams of making a run to Sacramento for the state championship.
But now it was over. There will be no more games for Miramonte this season.
In an emotionallycharged matchup in which the refs couldn't make a call without hearing outrage from spectators in the halffilled gym, 13th-seeded Clovis North roared back from 15 points behind in the second half to stun fourthseeded Miramonte 70-68 in overtime.
Miramonte had chances to win the California Interscholastic Federation NorCal Division I regional opener at the end of regulation and overtime but lost another playoff heartbreaker.
One week after De La Salle overcame a 31-15 halftime deficit to beat Miramonte in the semifinals of the North Coast Section Open Division playoffs, the Mats watched a 48-33 thirdquarter lead dissolve in a 19-0 run.
Two of those points were uncontested, as Lavdiotis pointed out afterward.
Miramonte was still in its huddle early in the fourth quarter when the refs handed Clovis North the ball under the visitors' basket. Jaylen Bryant scored without being defended.
Lavdiotis, still puzzled postgame, said he got no explanation or a warning.
“I didn't see a ref anywhere near our huddle,” he said. “One was over there, one was down there and one was on the baseline. Not one of them came over and said, `First horn, first horn.' It's loud. There's music. Fans. The ref's job is to lean in and go, `First horn, coach.' Then we break. I never saw a ref.”
Tyler Dutto's three-point play ended Clovis North's run, bringing the home team to within 52-51. Dutto's pass to James Frye for another three-point play gave Miramonte the edge, 57-56, with 3:21 left.
The lead changed hands five more times in the fourth quarter.
Caden Breznikar tied the score for Miramonte 62-62 when he sank the first of two free-throw attempts with 3.9 seconds left. His second free throw didn't drop. But Miramonte (25-6) secured the loose ball and got a 3-point shot off at the buzzer.
It didn't fall, either. In overtime, Jordan Espinoza's basket gave Clovis North a 69-68 lead with 21 seconds left.
Frye tried to answer at the other end with a potential winning play but was called for an offensive foul in the lane when the defender fell down.
“I drove to the right,” Frye said. “I knew he was going to try to cut me off when I go to the right, and he did. So I stopped and his momentum basically made him fall. I don't think I extended my arm, but they called a foul. It is what it is.”
Frye credited Clovis North (19-11) for the energy it brought to the court.
“They definitely had a better effort than us throughout the game,” he said.
Trailing 19-18 after the first quarter, Miramonte led 33-30 at halftime and opened the second half on a 15-3 run to widen the margin to 15.
Connor Amundsen, a sophomore, ended the third quarter by scoring 10 consecutive points to cut Clovis North's deficit to 48-45 with eight minutes left. Amundsen finished with 21 points and Bryant, a force near the basket, scored 20.
Frye led Miramonte with 20 points and Dutto added 15. Both are seniors. Sophomore Marcus Robinson chipped in with 10 points.
It got so heated at one point that a small group of Clovis North supporters was ejected from the gym.
Clovis North advances to play fifth-seeded Folsom, a winner over Dublin, in the quarterfinals today.
Miramonte bid farewell to its seniors on Tuesday as a season that saw the Mats rise into the Top 5 of the Bay Area News Group's rankings ended.
“I'm just so proud of the seniors,” Frye said. “They're really my brothers, honestly. I've been playing with them since I was in third grade. It's been a hell of a ride. I love them all. All the younger guys, I hope they carry on our legacy of trying to be excellent, chasing excellence all the time.”