Sacred Heart Prep boys' basketball falls in OT to Riordan, can’t burst WCAL Central Coast Section Open Division finals bubble

“The offensive boards that we gave up really hurt,” SHP head coach Tony Martinelli said. “At times, we thought they were going over our backs, but we weren’t boxing out hard enough, and you’re not gonna get those calls.”

No offensive rebound the Gators conceded was bigger than the one with 6.9 seconds left in the extra period. With Riordan up 59-58, Crusaders guard Zachary Jones missed the front end of a 1-and-1, but Marcellus Edwards grabbed the rebound and his teammates cycled the ball around until Christian Wise was finally fouled with 0.9 on the clock. He made the first free throw, and after missing the second, all the Gators could muster was a heave from under their own basket that didn’t even come within 20 feet of the basket.

Despite getting out rebounded 29-23 in the second half and overtime, including 12-8 on the offensive glass, the second-seeded Gators still had their chances to win. In fact, Sacred Heart Prep (23-4) led for almost the entirety of the second half, save for a brief window in the third quarter when third-seeded Riordan (19-8) used a 7-0 run to take a 37-36 lead. Aidan Braccia quickly restored control for the home side, knocking down four 3-pointers in the final four minutes of the third quarter to send SHP into the final period with a 48-44 lead.

Then, the drought hit. The Gators missed their first six shots of the fourth quarter, not scoring until an Emmer Nichols layup with 3:24 left to go up 50-47. It was Nichols’ first points of the night, and he finished with just four after scoring 16 in Monday’s win over St. Francis.

“They gave him a little space and dared him to shoot it from the perimeter,” Martinelli said of Riordan’s defense on the 6-foot-5 forward. “He made some nice passes and found some open guys, but he just missed some shots.”

The Gators missed another three shots over the following two minutes, and Riordan had a chance to tie the game when Christian Wise drew a foul on a putback. He failed to complete the and-1, but Zachary Jones, a football standout who was tasked with defending Braccia in the fourth quarter, hit a corner three with 50 seconds left to tie the game. Braccia, who scored a game-high 26, did draw a foul on his way back down the court and made both free throws, evening the game at 52 with 43.3 on the clock.

Braccia stole a pass into the corner with 11.1 left, but stepped out of bounds in the process. The referees ruled he had possession, thus causing a turnover and giving the Crusaders the final shot of regulation, but King-Njhsanni Wilhite’s shot from the elbow missed. Nichols grabbed the rebound and called timeout, and SHP got a shot off at the buzzer, but Kevin Carney’s heave from the volleyball line hit the back rim and bounced away.

“They ran it perfectly,” Martinelli said. “Sam gave a perfect pass and the shot looked good from where I was. I was ready to celebrate.”

A few minutes later, it was the Crusaders who got to celebrate a second consecutive Open Division Championship appearance. They never trailed in OT, taking a 57-54 lead on an Edwards and-1 with 2:20 left. Norris made one of two free throws to tie the game with 1:43 to go, but Edwards scored off a feed from Quinton Bundage with 1:09 remaining.

A Nichols block gave the ball back to SHP with a chance to tie or take the lead, and Braccia was fouled at midcourt with 11.2 left. He made the first free throw but missed the second, and thanks to Edwards’ offensive rebound, the Gators never had another real chance.

“They tightened up defensively and took us out of turning the ball to the other side,” Martinelli said of his team’s struggles in the fourth quarter and overtime. “We’re really good when the ball switches sides of the floor, and it got stuck on one side and they boxed out really well.”

Wilhite led Riordan with 24, scoring 16 in the first half. Edwards finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds while Christian Wise had nine points and 13 boards. Norris, the only junior in SHP’s starting lineup, scored nine of his 12 in the second quarter and gathered seven rebounds.

Riordan will face top-seeded Mitty (23-4) on Friday night at Kaiser Permanente Arena in a rematch of last year’s championship. SHP awaits a state tournament seed, which will be unveiled by the CIF on Sunday. The Gators are likely in for a high seed in Division I, but have an outside shot at being placed in the Open Division.