Carlmont boys’ basketball coach Ron Ozorio felt something was off when he walked into the gym at Sparks High School in Nevada Thursday for a game against Reed-Sparks for the start of Rail City Classic tournament.
It then dawned on him: Nevada is one of 42 states that does not use a shot clock in high school boys’ basketball, which in and of itself is just weird. Even more weird is that the California shot clock in the boys’ game has only been in existence since 1998. The girls’ game has used a 30-second shot clock since 1976 — but girls’ basketball still doesn’t have a 10-second, backcourt violation either. All of which is a different story for a different time.
“I looked around when I got to the gym. I didn’t see [a shot clock],” Ozorio said. “I had never expected that.”
California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota and Washington are the only states that use a shot clock in boys’ basketball.
Carlmont, along with Antioch, were the only California schools participating in the tournament, so it presented somewhat of a dichotomy in high school basketball. The Scots’ internal clocks, which have been conditioned to get a shot off inside of 35 seconds, meant that they would push the pace. The Nevada teams, on the other hand, took a more relaxed approach early in games.
“We watched a couple games before us and everyone is walking the ball up,” Ozorio said.
The benefit of no shot clock, however, is that it forces teams to really ramp up defensive pressure and it was Reed’s press that got it back in the game in the fourth period, erasing a 10-point Carlmont lead. The Scots led the entire way, but needed a free throw from Jake Kennedy, who was fouled on a 3-point attempt as the buzzer sounded, to beat Reed, 60-59.
“We led from start to finish, but the last two minutes they came at us hard with pressure,” Ozorio said. “That was part of losing the lead at the end.”
On top of the slower pace, the Scots were at a disadvantage dealing with the elevation. The Reno-Spark area sits at just over 4,500 feet above sea level. To level the playing field, Carlmont pushed the pace all game long.
“I think the pace was far faster than they are used to playing. Even though [Reed was] acclimated to the altitude, both teams were huffing and puffing at the end of [the first quarter],” Ozorio said. “Our pace was definitely something they weren’t used to.”
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With the win, Carlmont advanced to the semifinals Friday, beating Galena-Reno, 53-45, to advance to the championship game Saturday, where the Scots fell to Churchill County-Fallon, 67-50.
***
With the winter break coming so late, nearly every basketball league in the Central Coast Section had a decision to make: begin the league season before the start of the break, which the Peninsula Athletic League decided to do, or, begin league play during the break.
Looks like most leagues in CCS chose the latter. The West Catholic Athletic League and West Bay Athletic League, among others, kick off league basketball play this week, despite schools being out of class until next week.
There doesn’t seem to be an ideal way to address when to start the league season. But considering school is still out, expect fan attendance to be sparse at league openers this week.
***
The Peninsula Baseball Umpire Association is holding an event to recruit prospective umpires for the upcoming high school baseball season.
The meeting is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 7 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the San Mateo County Office of Education at 101 Twin Dolphin Drive, Redwood City, 94065.
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