Redemption.
That was what the Bishop Diego Boys basketball team accomplished Friday night at the Brickhouse, when the Cardinals bested Dana Hills 54-52 in the CIF-SS Division 3A Final, capturing the program’s first title in history, two years after the team lost in the CIF title on a game-winning tip-in against Arrowhead Christian.
“I’m so speechless and I’m so happy,” Bishop Diego senior Tyler Williams said.
“This is the happiest I’ve ever been. I let out tears and I haven’t cried in so long… but we’re not done yet, we have state playoffs and I want to finish with another one.”
Williams led the Cardinals in scoring, pouring in 21 points, 12 of which came in the first half.
“Behind the scenes, I’ve put in more hours than I feel like a lot of people, and I come in every game with so much confidence to take any shot,” Williams said.
“That’s why you see me take tough shots, but no matter how tough they are, I’m full of confidence that it’s going.”
Fellow senior Kai Morphy added another 14 points, including knocking down two free throws with 41.6 seconds left to put Bishop Diego in the 54-52 lead.
Senior Marcus Chan tallied another nine points for the Cardinals.
“I have been fouled at the end of the game down one, down two, tie game, that’s what I do,” Morphy said. “I go up, take a deep breath, and I shoot like nothing’s happening.”
The Cardinals also accomplished the win in front of a packed crowd at the Brickhouse, something Williams said he never experienced before.
“This is the most I’ve ever seen in this gym, and all 300 of our Bishop students showed up and I can’t thank them enough. It’s a super cool environment,” Williams said.
The contest was back and forth all night, with no team achieving a lead greater than six. There were multiple lead changes throughout the match as well, with Bishop trailing after he first, leading at halftime, tied at the end of the third, and a win after the final buzzer.
Bishop coach James Coronado said after the game he wouldn’t have expected the championship to go any other way.
“These guys are giving me a heart attack,” Coronado said with a laugh after the win.
“I’m really super intense, but they’re super calm, and lucky for us, it’s just a perfect balance, and that’s what it was today. It wasn’t our perfect game, but we did a good enough job to win the game.”
Asked about his emotions after delivering the first championship in the program’s history, Coronado said he was just happy for his team, especially his seniors.
“I am a hard, intense coach by nature so I expect a lot of them, and every time we answer the bell. I couldn’t be more proud of them,” Coronado said.
Dana Hills was led offensively by senior guard Griffin Haugh who scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half, and took the last shot at the buzzer — a step-back three that missed the rim entirely as the game clock expired.
“We knew they were gonna be shooting on the perimeter, so we were prepared for those outside shots,” Morphy said. “Credit to them for getting those inside shots, but we got it done in the end, we figured it out and we got them.”
In a game as back-and-forth as this one, Morphy and Williams consistently hit big shots, but arguably the biggest play of the game came before the halftime horn.
After snagging an offensive rebound, Cardinals junior Qu’Ran Gossett was fouled with 3.9 seconds in the first half, and hit the first free throw, but missed the second.
Dana Hills rebounded the ball, but Gossett, with such little time, managed to steal the ball and throw up a fadeaway 3 as the buzzer expired, knocking down the shot and giving the Cardinals a 4-point halftime lead instead of just a 1-point lead, 35-31.
“To be honest, I kind of practice those just messing around, and I chucked it up and I can feel it off my fingertips. It felt good, and I was like, it was going,” Gossett said.
“I just felt excitement throughout my whole body, I just couldn’t believe it.”
Though he is a junior, Gossett will not likely not be returning to the basketball team next year, focusing instead on his main sport football, where he is a lead running back for the Cardinals. But that doesn’t make Friday’s win any less sweet.
“It’s just indescribable, especially since I couldn’t get that far in football,” Gossett said. “I got it back in basketball and that makes it up.”
Asked about what this win means for the program going forward, Williams said he was proud for what his team was able to accomplish with this win, especially avenging that 2020 CIF loss.
“This means everything,” Williams said.
“Two years ago when our whole group was all sophomores and in that deep playoff run, my brother and my coach told us that this was going to be the group that changed Bishop basketball and I mean we did. We were putting up a banner in a high division. It’s indescribable.”