LAS VEGAS – The host Bishop Gorman Gaels and Corona (CA) Centennial Huskies hook up in Saturday’s final day of action in the Platinum Division of the third Jerry Tarkanian Classic.
That is not surprising in itself.
What is perhaps startling to many is that the game will tip off at 3:40 in the afternoon – and will be contested for third place.
That’s because the division’s top two seeds were stunned in down-to-the-wire semifinals Friday evening in the Orleans Hotel Arena.
In the first semifinal the Huskies were edged by another of the better teams in California, Redondo Beach Redondo, 55-54.
And in the second semifinal, in perhaps the most frantic ending ever in the three years of the event, Oklahoma City Putnam City West shocked the Stephen Zimmerman– and Chase Jeter-led Gaels in overtime, 52-50.
The championship game is set to tip off at 5 o’clock Saturday and will be one of 18 contests played on the premises over the Platinum, Premier and Prep divisions.
In the first of the semifinals, the Sea Hawks used their full-court pressure to force turnovers (the Huskies were to finish with 22 of them) and generally disrupt the Huskies’ offense – save for the penetration skills of senior point guard Sedrick Barefield (17 points) and deep jump shooting of junior Jordan Griffin (four 3s en route to 14 points).
Redondo got a balanced scoring attack – a combined 41 points from guards Leland Green (14), Ryse Williams (11), Morgan Means (9) and Ryan Reeves (seven) and 10 more from sophomore Billy Preston before he fouled out – but missed opportunities to create a bit of a cushion in the final minute as Reeves and reserve post Jeremiah Headley combined to miss three consecutive free throws.
With the Huskies trailing, 55-53, reserve guard Chris Famous was fouled on a drive with 5.9 seconds remaining.
Famous swished the first attempt but the second bounced off iron.
In the scramble for the rebound, Redondo’s Elijah Nesbit – all 5-foot-3 of him – managed to dig out the ball and, while seeming being buried in humanity along the baseline, flung it toward in the direction of his bench, some 60 or so feet away.
Possession was awarded the Huskies in front of the Redondo bench with 1.1 seconds on the clock.
After Coach Josh Giles used his final two timeouts to avoid 5-second calls, Kyle Hamilton inbounded to sophomore center Jalen Hill just in front (on the Centennial side) of the center circle and Hill almost instantaneously fired a pass to Barefield on the left wing.
But the horn sounded just about the same millisecond the ball hit Barefield’s hands and he wasn’t able launch a potential game-winning attempt.
Bishop Gorman lost to Santa Ana (CA) Mater Dei during the 2012 Platinum title game and to Oakland (CA) Bishop O’Dowd in last December’s semifinals.
And the Gaels seemed to be recovering from early-season losses (to O’Dowd, as well as Jesuit of Carmichael, CA) as they whacked L.A. Windward and Aurora (CO) Overland in the first two rounds Wednesday and Thursday nights.
But, even with some early-game dominance from Zimmerman (who eventually finished with 13 points, 13 rebounds and four assists), Bishop Gorman struggled to get into any kind of offensive continuity against the smaller but much quicker Patriots.
After a couple of Zimmerman free throws tied the score (at 47) with about a minute to play, the Gaels recovered a loose ball and Zimmerman got a pass to Ugo Amadi but the senior guard – who had already hit three 3s – couldn’t connected with a frantic attempt from the deep right corner as the buzzer sounded, putting things into overtime.
The Patriots took a quick three-point advantage in OT (two of those coming on a steal and layup by senior wing Tyson Jolly, who scored 24 points) but the Gaels tied the score at 50 when senior wing Nick Blair hit the back end of a two-shot free-throw opportunity with 38 seconds to go.
But – as for that frantic finish – after three turnovers, the Gaels were in possession for a dead-sealing bucket but Blair tried to score on a harried drive into closed quarters with about six seconds to go and the ball found its way into Jolly’s hands.
It appeared as if he were going to dribble into a desperation 35-footer (give or take) at the buzzer but he had the whereto all to look up, see sophomore teammate Nick Robinson streaking toward the backboard and put the ball into his hands via an impeccable bounce pass that led him right into a winning layup at the buzzer.
In some of the other Platinum action at Bishop Gorman on Saturday, Chino Hills (CA) and Plano (TX) Prestonwood Academy hook up in the fifth-place game at 9 in the morning on Court I with El Cajon (CA) Foothills Christian facing Long Beach (CA) Poly in the consolation finale at 10:20.
The Premier Division final (an all-Utah affair between Bingham and Logan) tips at 2:20.
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