Hillsdale knocks off Carlmont in Peninsula Athletic League South Division basketball opener

“This (game) was on our dart board,” said Carlmont head coach Ron Ozorio. “They had beaten us in the Jefferson tournament.”

The Knights are now 2-0 against the Scots this season as they used a third-quarter flurry to post a 45-36 win.

“[Carlmont is] a really good team and they have some quality wins,” said Hillsdale head coach Arjuna Manning-Laisne. “They kicked our butts last year when we opened league.”

Carlmont (0-1 PAL South, 8-6 overall) got out to an early lead, but by halftime, Hillsdale (1-0, 9-5) had taken a 25-21 lead.

The Knights then came out in the third and blitzed the Scots. Jordan Hauser, who finished with a game-high 19 points, started the run with a layup followed by another layup from Zach Clumeck.

Hillsdale was now off and running. Hauser scored on a slashing drive to the bucket and Brady Carson drained a 3 to put give the Knights an 11-point lead, 34-23, with 5:28 left in the quarter.

Brady then scored on a pick-and-roll, Hauser came up with a steal and a fast-break layup and Carson capped a 16-2 run with a deep 3 to put the Knights up 38-23 with 4:07 left in the period.

“I thought our defense was spectacular (during that run),” Manning-Laisne said. “Our team had tremendous focus.”

Ozorio, meanwhile, knew the game was all but over at that point.

“Our defense was poor. It’s been hot and cold all season,” Ozorio said. “It’s focus. We didn’t bring it today. We didn’t have it, for whatever reason. We usually score in the 50s and 60s. What were we tonight, 36?”

Hillsdale would eventually build a 41-27 leading going into the fourth quarter. Carlmont managed to get the deficit down to 11 points on a couple of occasions, but could never quite get over the hump.

The Scots had a chance to cut the Knights’ lead to 9 with just under two minutes to play after getting a stop on the defensive end, but a long breakout pass upcourt was picked off by Brayden Weaver to stop the break.

In fact, keeping the Scots out of transition was the key for the Knights, as was limiting Nate Wong’s impact, Manning-Laisne said. Wong, along with Hauser, is one of the best combo guards in the PAL. When he is on his game and flowing, he — and the Scots — can be tough to stop. He has scored 22 points or more in his last three games.

But the Hillsdale defense, especially Carson, kept Wong under wraps. While he did finish with 17 points, he could not get the rest of the Scots involved.

“We said the biggest thing was to keep [Wong] out of transition,” Manning-Laisne said. “He still got his, but [Carson] made him have to work for everything.”

Job well done, according to Ozorio.

“Credit to the Hillsdale defense,” Ozorio said. “I thought their transition defense was great. They took away our passing lanes.”

Carlmont got off to a good enough start. Ben Lefer opened the scoring on a slash to the basket and that was followed by a scoop to the hoop by Wong. After he hit a pair of free throws, the Scots led 9-5 midway through the opening quarter.

But Carlmont ended on a 7-0 run, with Hauser knocking down a 3, followed by a pair of free throws from Chris Yoshioka. A layup from Clumeck gave Hillsdale a 12-9 lead after one period.

A corner 3 from Carlmont’s Camden Ngo to start the second quarter tied the game at 12. When Wong drained a 3, Carlmont regained the lead, 15-14, with just over six minutes left in the first half.

But a 3 from Lefer gave the lead back to the Knights and four converted free throws pushed the Hillsdale lead to 21-17.

Wong and Hauser then traded drives to the basket to end the half with Hillsdale holding a 25-21 advantage.

“We really feel (beating) M-A, Burlingame and Carlmont are our path to success,” Manning-Laisne said.