OAKLAND — For the third time this year, a last-second shot by Julian Vaughns sent St. Joseph Notre Dame to overtime, but yet again, the Pilots were defeated in the extra period, this time falling 52-51 to Bishop O’Dowd.
Iniko McNeil battled cramps throughout overtime and committed nine turnovers, but his lone basket of the afternoon, with 20 seconds left in overtime, put Bishop O’Dowd (6-4) in front for good after the Dragons gave up the gut punch to Vaughns at the end of regulation and the first five points of overtime to boot.
“It was a bad game for me, but I’m just glad we got the win,” McNeil said. “Knowing the history of this rivalry, we knew it would be a gutsy one.”
O’Dowd also won last year’s meeting in OT, 63-59 in Alameda.
To even get to overtime, SJND had to erase a 10-point deficit, with Vaughns hitting the game-tying off-balance 3-pointer with three seconds left despite efforts by the Dragons to foul him before he could get a shot off. Vaughns fouled out on a charge just 10 seconds into overtime, but five points by freshman Jaylen Thompson, off a corner three and a 2-on-1 in transition, gave the Pilots a five-point advantage. O’Dowd answered with two free throws by Brenden Patrick and, after a hobbled McNeil drew a charge, a William Chavarin drive cut the lead to one. After both teams missed shots, a clever trap by the Dragons at half-court forced a turnover and set up McNeil to provide the go-ahead points.
The ending wasn’t pretty, as Eric Greer missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with a chance to tie or give St. Joseph Notre Dame (7-6) the lead. McNeil then missed two free throws, and a 3-point attempt by the Pilots to win the game hit the side of the backboard.
“That’s four overtimes in a row,” said head coach Don Lippi. The Pilots suffered a triple-overtime loss to Monte Vista in their prior game, and they had also lost in overtime to crosstown rival Alameda two weeks earlier. “We’ve got to figure out how to finish them.”
SJND had controlled most of the first half, holding the Dragons scoreless over the first four minutes and trailing for just a minute in the second quarter. Thompson scored six of his team-high 16 in the second quarter as the Pilots took a 22-20 halftime lead.
The tables completely turned in the third, with Chavarin, currently signed to Cal Poly Pomona, giving O’Dowd the lead on a 3-pointer with 4:22 left in the quarter. He’d score six more on the quarter and finish with 23, and a Taj Phillips basket would make it a 37-27 Dragons lead before two Elijah Palmer free throws closed the quarter.
“We just had to stop diving into their defense,” Bishop O’Dowd head coach Lou Richie said of his team’s strong third quarter. “They do a really good job of collapsing on the middle.”
Greer scored on the opening possession of the fourth, but a Monty Bowser 3-pointer stretched the lead back to nine. St. Joe’s would get within one on a Vaughns three with 1:20 left, but Chavarin would score and draw a foul on the next possession. He’d miss the free throw, and an attempt to tie the game was missed but retrieved in the backcourt by Adam Campos after it was tipped out from the key. Lippi called timeout with 10.9 seconds left and managed to get Vaughns a shot to tie it, and as he has done so many times before, he drained it to tie the game.
“He’s done that a few times,” Lippi said. “But he’s got to stay on the floor more.”
Even with Vaughns limited by foul trouble, picking up his second just five minutes into the game and getting called for his third three minutes into the third quarter, Thompson was able to step up to keep his team close.
“He’s been awesome,” Lippi said of his freshman. “I think he’s what, eight, nine, 10 years old?”
