San Mateo Bearcats claw way to win

“Grant is scoring 19 points a game,” said San Mateo head coach Marvin Lui. “So we have to find a way to replace that.”

So after opening the new year with a non-division loss to rival Burlingame, it was further compounded by back-to-back losses to open Peninsula Athletic League Ocean Division last week, reaching their nadir last Friday night following a 71-44 pasting at the hands of Woodside.

At least the Bearcats didn’t have an extra day to dwell on that disappointing loss as they returned to the court Tuesday night to host Capuchino, which was on the other end of the spectrum. The Mustangs were coming off a thrilling 54-29 win Westmoor.

Despite the adversity, the defending Ocean champion Bearcats fought and clawed their way to their first league of the win of the season, as Bryan Ehlerman hit a running baseline layup with five seconds left to lift the Bearcats to a dramatic 54-44 victory.

“I went up confidently. A lot of people stepped up,” Ehlerman said. “Hopefully this gets us in a groove.”

In addition to not having Wolfgram, San Mateo (1-2 PAL Ocean, 8-7 overall) lost its only other real shooting threat. Daniel Villeda connected on three 3-pointers on his way to a 11-point first half, but he twisted his ankle early in the third quarter and missed the rest of the game.

It was a big loss because the Bearcats really needed a sharpshooter to beat the zone defense Capuchino (1-2, 6-9) was employing to great effect in the fourth quarter.

The Bearcats, which were down a point at halftime, 26-25, used their transition offense to score 13 third-quarter points, 10 coming off the fast break, as they took a 38-34 lead going into the fourth.

The Ehlerman twins, seniors Bryan and Byron, while not particularly strong shooters, are excellent scorers and they were nearly unstoppable in the third, as they combined to score 10 of the Bearcats’ 13 points. Itai Benjamin had the other points, knocking down a corner 3 to tie the game at 32-all.

Bryan Ehlerman scored a team-high 14 points, while Byron Ehlerman added a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, including five offensive boards.

“They’re both three-year (varsity) players,” Lui said. “They’re good at creating shots.”

But they’re at their best taking defenders off the dribble and the dribbling lanes were clogged in the fourth quarter as the Mustangs shut down the dribble penetration.

Byron Ehlerman scored the first five points of the fourth quarter for San Mateo, connecting on three of four from the free throw and dropping in a tear-drop floater to put the Bearcats up 43-39 with 4:41 to play.

But Capuchino got a 3 from Matthew Alas to cut the Mustangs’ deficit to one, 43-42. They retook the lead when Christian Rodriguez grabbed an offensive rebound and scored on a putback to go up 44-43 with 2:36 left.

Alas would finish with a game-high 18 points.

San Mateo eventually had the ball and shot clock turned off with a little more 24 seconds left in the game. With 10 seconds left, the Bearcats had the ball on the left sideline and inbounded the ball to Dylan Chua, who hastily put up a 3-pointer that clanged off the rim and backboard.

But the Bearcats hustled for the rebound. Byron Ehlerman grabbed the offensive rebound and found Bryan Ehlerman, who had an open baseline, drove and scored on layup.

Alas’ 3-points attempt from midcourt hit missed and the Bearcats escaped with the win.

Was Chua’s quick shot part of the plan? Because it worked to perfection. The miss got the Mustangs out of their zone chasing the rebound and suddenly Bryan Ehlerman found space to operate.

“That wasn’t what we were looking for,” Lui said of Chua’s quick shot.

It was a chaotic finish to a game that took a while to find a rhythm. It took more than two minutes before Villeda knocked down a 3 to open the scoring, but it would be the only field goal of the quarter for San Mateo as the Mustangs were on fire to start the game, hitting on 6 of 11 shots to open up a 15-9 lead after the first period.

But the Bearcats did go 6 for 6 from the free throw line and did just enough in the rebounding department to stay close.

“We started off sloppy,” Bryan Ehlerman said.

In the second quarter, Capuchino cooled off as the Bearcats started to connect on some shots. But not before the Mustangs opened up their biggest lead of the game, 22-11 after a reverse layup from Bruce Wang with 6:21 left in the opening half.

But San Mateo closed the half on a 14-4 run to trail just 26-25 at the break.

“Getting that first league win is huge,” Lui said. “It was different from our normal Wednesday-Friday schedule, but in this case, [a Tuesday game] was therapeutic.”