LJ b BB 50, Bishop's 54 (OT)

The Vikings' Quinn Rawdin (2) moves the ball against
the Knights' Mozes Mooney (1) in the third quarter.
(Photos by Ed Piper)

 

By Ed Piper

La Jolla erased a nine-point second-half Bishop's lead, but was unable to sustain a push in overtime, falling to the Knights at home, 54-50, Tues., Dec. 19.

In the overtime period, the rival schools were tied with 1:46 left. But Knight captain Collin Douglas's pair of free throws put the Vikings down by three with 28 seconds left. During a timeout, La Jolla called a play in which Charlie Gal took a three-point attempt with 10.7 seconds on the clock, but the shot caromed off the rim and Christian Rose of Bishop's secured the rebound and the victory.

The Vikings, who won five of their first six games and the title of the Hilltop Invitational tourney, have now lost three in a row to fall to 5-4, with three tough opponents coming up in the Grossmont Winter Classic at the end of the week. The Knights move to 5-1 on the season.

La Jolla guard Behzad Hashemi sank two three-pointers in a row for leads in overtime of 47-46 and 50-49 with under three minutes left. But the junior guard fouled out at 1:46. The resulting free throws by Mozes Mooney of Bishop's on a one-and-one put Bishop's ahead by one. The Knights then made some defensive stops and increased their lead on Douglas's free throws before the Vikings' final shot. Hashemi's fouling out left Gal as the three-point option.

A beautiful sliver of a moon showed itself
earlier in the evening, prior to the
Vikings' 7 p.m. game.

A smaller student section from each school saw the Vikings drop the rivalry contest after successive wins. The game was scheduled during the winter break when school is out for both schools. The La Jolla side got bigger as the game progressed.

In the first half, the game was close, with the two teams tying at 10-10, 14-14 at the end of the first quarter, and 20-20, before the visitors took a slim 25-23 lead into halftime. But then La Jolla fell behind, 38-29, with 2:09 left in the third quarter.

Jacob Ohara's three, a rare outside shot for the senior guard, who was MVP of the Hilltop tournament, knotted the teams at 40-40 to begin the fourth quarter. That shot was preceded by baskets by Hashemi and Diego Solis, the latter on a steal by the freshman that saw the La Jolla students erupt. During that streak, Gal and Solis also sank free throws.