Weiser gives Bellarmine upset of Moreau at buzzer
Tariq Weiser caught the inbounds pass in the backcourt, dribbled past a defender along the right sideline near midcourt and drove toward the basket.
The Bellarmine senior split two defenders and took the shot with his left hand as Moreau Catholic star LeBrie Goudy-Lee leaped to block it.
The ball hit the center of the backboard and fell through the hoop as time was about to expire.
Bellarmine, a 13th seed, went on the road and stunned fourthseeded Moreau 62-60 in Hayward on Tuesday night in the first round of the CIF Northern California Division II regional.
The Bells advance to the quarterfinals tonight at fifth-seeded Vanden-Fairfield, which had its own dramatic finish in a 51-49 win over Priory.
Moreau's season came to an end with back-to-back crushing defeats, the one Tuesday following an overtime loss to Clayton Valley Charter in a section championship game Saturday.
Weiser's basket went in with two seconds left.
But by the time Moreau tried to inbound the ball, time ran out and Bellarmine players sprinted onto the court to celebrate the victory, which came four years after Moreau handed the Bells a doubleovertime defeat in a first-round regional game in the same gym.
“I've hit a couple of game-winners before, but they've never been on this big of a stage,” Weiser said.
Bellarmine coach Alex Sarrett, in his first season after taking over from the program's longtime leader, Patrick Schneider, said there was no doubt the ball was going to Weiser.
“Got to go with your senior guy and have him make a play,” Sarrett said.
In the Moreau locker room, the heartbroken players sat together somberly on benches as longtime coach Frank Knight recounted what happened to reporters in his office after his Mariners started the game with a 22-7 first quarter — a bad second quarter, a rough time at the foul line (13 of 24 as a team).
“It's one of those things where it came down to one bucket,” Knight said. “I thought we played well in the first quarter. We played terrible in the second quarter when they went zone. Third quarter I thought we played evenly all the way through. Then the fourth quarter they made one more bucket than we did.”
Division I boys
NO. 4 ARCHBISHOP RIORDAN 57, NO. 13 CAMPOLINDO 46 >> As Riordan coach Joe Curtin was walking off the floor following his team's win, he smiled and shook his head.
“It's a bit poetic,” he said. “That we're here (at home) and beat them here, with all the recent history, last year's defeat at their place . ... It's a strange feeling.”
Campo had beaten Riordan in four straight games, including a season-ending win in the NorCal Open Division semifinal last year. Campo coach Steven Dyer has led his teams to a 70-10 overall record dating back to the final four games of 2019-20.
But on Tuesday night, Riordan (22-6) had a big night from senior forward Christian Wise, who scored 24 points — all in the paint — to help the Crusaders get revenge and end the Cougars' season.
Campolindo (23-8) was playing without point guard Tyler Bergren because of an injury. Senior Logan Robeson led the Cougars with 17 points.
Riordan will host No. 5 Inderkum in the Division I quarterfinals tonight.
NO. 6 SALESIAN 48, NO. 11 SERRA 33 >> Amani Johnson scored 15 points, Aaron Claytor added 12 and unheralded freshman Elias Obenyah, a 6-2 combination of wiry athleticism and untapped potential, scored five points in the first half and was a driving force defensively in a low-scoring game at Contra Costa College.
A year after being upset by Central-Fresno in the first round of last year's NorCal Division II playoff, Salesian (24-8) emphatically punched its ticket to the D-I quarterfinals by holding Serra to only seven made field goals in the second half.
Serra (17-12) got eight points from Seamus Gilmartin, and Marcel Elicagaray scored seven.
Salesian will play host to 14thseed University-San Francisco tonight, a team that shocked No. 3 Jesuit-Carmichael 92-85.
NO. 15 SACRED HEART PREP 63, NO. 2 FOLSOM 62 (OT) >> Sacred Heart Prep trailed for the first 31-plus minutes and fell behind by as many as 11 points, But the Gators rode the back of a battle-tested group of players to upset No. 2 seed Folsom in overtime.
Sam Norris scored the gamewinner in the closing seconds when he broke free near the basket to catch an inbound pass from the sideline. He finished with 12 and TJ O'Brien scored 25 points. NO. 10 SAN RAMON VALLEY 63, NO. 7 CLOVIS NORTH 57 >> San Ramon Valley trailed by 10 points in the first quarter at Clovis North. But the Wolves switched to a zone and outscored their host in every quarter the rest of the way.
Seamus Deely finished with 15 points, Will Ambidge had 13 and Luke Isaak added 12 for San Ramon Valley. McClaughry scored seven.
With both their upset and Sacred Heart Prep's upset, the Wolves will host the Gators in the quarterfinals.
NO. 9 GRANADA 65, NO. 8 SACRED HEART CATHEDRAL 58 >> Tyler Harris wanted at least one more game. So with Granada down by 11 points at the half, he took over, and his 26-point effort meant Granada got to enjoy the bus ride back to Livermore from San Francisco.
Granada (23-10) also got 16 points from Andrew McKeever. SHC finished the season 16-13.
Granada will take on No. 1 seed Clovis West, with their 30-3 record, tonight.
Division II boys
NO. 14 CALIFORNIA 69, NO. 3 SACRAMENTO 63 >> In the five-decade history of the school, California had never played in a NorCal regional game until its trip Tuesday night to Sacramento. It made the most of its opportunity. California had four players score in double figures in an impressive road victory: Amari Gray (21), Adam Zalmai (16), Kellen Torrey (14) and Damarcus Collins (13).
California will play in the quarterfinals at San Joaquin Memoria-lFresno, which rolled over Santa Cruz 76-51 in the first round.
Division III boys
NO. 4 THE KING'S ACADEMY 64, NO. 13 YGNACIO VALLEY 61 >> The King's Academy built a 10-point lead after three quarters and held off a rally by Ygnacio Valley in the opening round of the Northern California Division III regional playoffs — and the first NorCal game for both teams. TKA (23-3) has had some success in recent years, going a combined 27-14 over the past two seasons, but took it to a new level in 2022-23.
Ygnacio Valley (21-7) had experienced only one winning season since 2006 (14-13 in 2019) and was 2-22 a year ago. Antonio Kellogg Jr. led the Wolves with 23 points.
TKA will host No. 5 Pinole Valley, a 71-60 winner over Placer, in the quarterfinals tonight.
NO. 16 CARLMONT 70, NO. 1 LAS LOMAS 66 >> A Las Lomas team that had won 10 in a row before losing by one point to Campolindo in the NCS Division II final saw its season come to a shocking end in the first round of the CIF NorCal tournament.
Carlmont sophomore Camden Ngo hit a 3-pointer with just under four minutes left to play, and the 16th-seeded Scots never relinquished the lead to Las Lomas (21-11).
Matthew Abiezzi and Enzo Carvalho-Goncalves each scored 16 for the Scots (19-8).
NO. 9 OAKLAND 78, NO. 8 PONDERSOA-SHINGLE SPRINGS 50 >> Star guard Money Williams scored 17 of his 24 points in the first half as the No. 9 seed built a 41-21 lead at the break.
Point guard Te'Shawn Gamble had 21 points, nine in the fourth quarter. James Fitzgerald scored eight points and Zaymani Mitchell added seven.
Oakland will host tonight's quarterfinal against Carlmont.