In a dramatic first-round CIF-SS boys basketball playoff game, Bishop Diego suffered the heart break of 54-53 defeat in overtime against Rancho Mirage on Wednesday night at the Brick House Gym.
The Cardinals missed two layups down the stretch and let a seven-point lead slip away in the last 2:46 of regulation time. Up 53-51 with 17 seconds left in overtime, they misfired on a shot when they had a chance to run out the clock and Rancho Mirage got the rebound.
Cash Gervin, a talented sophomore guard for Rancho Mirage, knocked down a three-pointer with six seconds left to win the game for the Rattlers. Bishop failed to get off a shot on its last possession of the Division 5 opener.
“At the end of the day, basketball is about making plays,” said first-year Bishop coach Caleb Richey, who designed a play during a timeout when the Cardinals were up by two with 17 seconds to go. “We thought we put it the right guy’s hands to make a play and it just didn’t go as we planned.”
Crew Sjovold scored 12 points, Damien Troutman finished with 11 and Rudy Blue had 10 to lead Bishop (20-5), the Tri-Valley League champions.
Rancho Mirage (19-9) got four three-pointers and 23 points from Syeed Baaree and 18 points from Gervin, including nine in the fourth quarter.
“They did a good job of denying him,” Rancho Mirage coach Caleb Gervin said of the Cardinals’ defense against his son, Cash. “He’s been on the line his whole life, made big shots time after time, and it’s always great to see all his hard work pay off in a game like this.”
Bishop led for most of the game, its largest advantage being eight (18-10) early in the second quarter. Rancho Mirage, behind 10 unanswered points from Baaree, caught the Cardinals at 31 and took a 35-31 lead.
Bishop came back with five straight on a basket by Shammah Kwizera and a three-pointer by Troutman to go up 36-35 entering the fourth quarter.
A steal and dunk by Troutman sparked a 9-4 run to put the Cardinals ahead 48-41 with just over two minutes left in regulation. But the team suffered a blow as Troutman was called for this fifth foul and exited the game.
“I thought we performed really well in the second half,” said Richey. “Obviously, it hurt not having Damien Troutman out there with foul trouble.”
Still, Bishop had a chance to expand the lead on a two-on-one break but missed the layup and then missed another layup.
Gervin made them pay with a two and a trey to make it 48-46 with 1:02 remaining.
After Rancho Mirage’s defense forced Bishop into a wild shot, there was a mad scramble for the rebound. The Rattlers came out with the ball and got it to Baaree, who was fouled with 17 seconds left. He made both free throws to knot the scored at 48.
The Cardinals missed a shot and a follow tip in the final seconds and the game went into overtime.
In the extra period, Blue buried a three for a 53-51 lead with 1:17 to go before Shane Kwizera fouled out. The Cardinals, however, got a big break as Rancho Mirage missed both free throws with 54 second left.
Bishop ran down the clock and called time out to set up a play with just a few seconds left on the shot clock. The Rattlers did a good job at defending and forced a contested shot. The Cardinals got the rebound, but rather then hold on to the ball they put up shot in the key.
This time, Rancho Mirage grabbed the rebound and got the ball to Gervin for his game-winning three.
“We knew it was going to be hard. We knew Bishop had a great team: athletic, physical, tough,” said coach Gervin. “We knew that in the first half getting them in foul trouble would play a role at the end of the game.”
For coach Richey, he felt the heart-breaking result was part of the growing-pains process of a young squad.
“I feel like us being young kind of came out tonight: missed layups, having the last possession of the ball and instead of holding it we’re trying to go get a bucket. Hey, that’s part of the game.
“I love how the season went, I love all the guys. Obviously, things didn’t go as we planned, but like I told the guys, the time to work this off season starts now.”