Carlmont beats buzzer, Hillsdale

Dylan Mendiola was down on himself for missing some shots earlier in the game. He made up for it and then some on his fourth and final shot. Mendiola's 12-foot jumper from the right baseline -- his only basket of the contest -- at the buzzer lifted host Carlmont to a 45-43 win over Hillsdale in the quarterfinals of the Peninsula Athletic League tournament on Thursday. "Nothing compares to this feeling," said Mendiola, who was immediately engulfed by his teammates after the final buzzer. "To hit a game-winning shot is something you always dream about. God answered my prayers tonight." The No. 2 seed Scots (21-4) advance to a semifinal matchup with No. 3 Burlingame at 4:30 p.m. today at El Camino High. They wouldn't have got there without Mendiola and another standout performance from guard Suhail Mohammadi, who finished with 16 points. Ten of those points came immediately after a Hillsdale (20-6) score, a testament to Mohammadi's clutch play. He also led Carlmont with 12 rebounds and four assists. As if those numbers weren't impressive enough, Mohammadi also set up the game-winning play. He rebounded a Hillsdale miss with just under 20 seconds remaining and the game tied at 43. Mohammadi then brought the ball up the floor and waited until there was eight seconds left to make his move. The Knights did what they were supposed to do -- they didn't let Mohammadi get a clean look at the basket, as there were multiple players ready to surround him wherever he went. Unfortunately for Hillsdale, sometimes you can do the right thing and it still won't be good enough. Mohammadi spun at the top of the key before dribbling to the right wing. He spotted Mendiola open on the right side before jumping and making the pass. The Knights did a nice job of closing out as two defenders got their arms high in the air. However, the open, split-second look was all the 5-foot-4 Mendiola needed, and his shot swished through the net as the buzzer sounded. Bedlam ensued, an appropriate finish to a seesaw game. Scots coach Dave Low had no doubt Mendiola's shot was going in. "Right man, right spot," Low said. "He can make those shots; I've seen him do it 100 times. Some kids go in the tank (if they struggle early in a game like Mendiola did), and he was willing to take the big shot." Said Mendiola: "(As I released the shot) I was thinking it was a win-win (situation). Either I miss and we go to overtime, or I make it and we get a victory. The shot was all adrenaline. My teammates gave me the energy, and Suhail made a great play. I usually look to him to take the game-winning shot. It's the best feeling in the world." Thursday's game promised to be an intriguing matchup, pitting Bay Division co-champion Carlmont against Ocean champion Hillsdale, which ran the table in division play and has proven to be one of the top three or four teams in the entire PAL this season. The squads actually played earlier in the season in a non-league game, a 45-40 Carlmont win. The rematch proved to be as good as advertised and then some, as it featured three ties and nine lead changes, eight of which came in a pulsating second half. The Knights didn't take their first lead until there was 3:13 left in the third quarter. That's when Eddie Pagano connected on a 3-pointer from the left wing to give Hillsdale a 28-27 advantage. The Knights continued to seize the momentum and took their largest lead, 43-37, on a Nick Eberle (eight points) 3-pointer with 3:05 to go. But the Knights wouldn't score the rest of the way and Carlmont showed mettle once again in coming from behind for the win. The Scots have made some nice late rallies the last couple of weeks and they did it again with clutch shooting and solid defense. Ryan Lippi answered Eberle's trey with a layup -- the Scots' only points from a bench player -- igniting a game-ending 8-0 run. James Testa (10 points) followed Lippi's score with a tough leaner in the lane, then tied things up with two free throws with 50.5 seconds left. The next time down the court Hillsdale's Ajani Norman, who had a game-high 20 points, had a clean look from the right wing. But his 3-point attempt rimmed long, and Mohammadi pulled in the rebound before setting up the final play. Norman single-handedly kept his team in the game in the first half. Carlmont jumped out to a 13-3 lead early and was threatening to run away with things, but Norman stayed aggressive the entire way, consistently blowing by Carlmont defenders off the dribble. Norman scored 10 of his team's 18 first-half points, then added 10 more in the final two quarters. But in the end Carlmont did just enough to escape with a win. Despite committing 23 turnovers -- "That's an all-time high for us," Low said -- the Scots were able to prevail. "If you asked me, looking at the way we played and that we committed 23 turnovers and would win by two, I'll take it," Low said. "As a coaching staff (after the first quarter), we had a sense we weren't at the top of our game, and a lot of that had to do with Hillsdale. Sometimes you got to be a little lucky and good, because I thought Hillsdale was very good."