The Bishop Diego High boys basketball team and its senior-laden team know a thing or two about heartbreak.
But Tuesday night in Downey, the Cardinals broke some hearts themselves with a comeback CIF-SS Division 3A semifinal win over St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy Tuesday.
Trailing by 10 heading into the fourth quarter, Bishop Diego’s defense turned on the intensity, allowing just three points while outscoring St. Pius by 15 and winning on the road, 51-46.
With the victory, Bishop Diego (23-9) advances to the championship game, hosting Dana Hills (19-9) in a game tentatively set for Friday.
Dos Pueblos will also be hosting a CIF championship game in boys basketball on the same day, according to the schedule.
It will be the Cardinals’ first CIF championship game since losing at the buzzer to Arrowhead Christian Academy in 2020, a game most of this year’s seniors played in.
Senior Kai Morphy led the Cardinals in scoring Tuesday night, dropping in 21 points, nine of which came from the free-throw line, where he went 9-for-14.
Fellow senior Tyler Williams added 12 points, despite tough defense, and came up huge on the defensive end in the final eight minutes.
In the fourth quarter, Bishop Diego’s defense was on fire, playing a press nearly the entire way and forcing seven steals along with one blocked shot from Morphy near the end of the game.
The Cardinals trailed nearly the entire contest and found themselves down by as many as 13 points in the second half.
A three-pointer by St. Pius sophomore guard Tyrone Riley put the Warriors up 11, and then a layup on the next possession gave the home team a 43-30 lead with just 1:18 left in the third.
Riley led all scorers with 25 points, the majority of which came off great drives to the lane resulting in dunks or acrobatic layups.
Morphy earned two trips to the free-throw line before the end of the quarter, however, and knocked down 3-of-4 to cut the lead to 10 heading into the final eight minutes.
Morphy then started the fourth quarter hot.
With the Cardinals in a press defense, Morphy came up with a steal on the first possession of the final frame and took it coast-to-coast, laying it up and drawing a foul to cut the lead down to seven.
On the next possession, the Cardinals again came up with a steal, and the ball eventually made its way to Morphy, who drove it hard to the line and made the layup, drawing the foul.
Morphy would miss the free throw, however, meaning the Warriors still held a 5-point advantage.
Out of a timeout with 3:55 remaining, Riley drove hard to the lane to extend St. Pius’s lead to six. That would be the last time the Warriors would score.
On the next possession, Williams drew a foul and make 1-of-2 to cut the lead to five, then senior Marcus Chan scored a layup on the next possession to cut the lead down to three.
Chan would score all five of his points in the fourth quarter.
Joining in on the steals party in the fourth, Bishop’s junior Qu’Ran Gossett came up with a steal and took it coast to coast to cut the lead down to one.
Chan would then draw a foul on the Cardinals’ next possession to tie the game at 46 with 1:57 remaining. More importantly, Chan also drew a foul on St. Pius freshman center Douglas Langford, who scored 13 points for the Warriors.
Langford was also instrumental on the defensive end, coming up with multiple blocks and altering shots to not allow easy baskets for Bishop. He sat most of the fourth before fouling out after picking up his fourth foul with two minutes left in the third.
After a missed 3-point shot, Williams came up with a huge rebound for the Cardinals and was fouled on the play, resulting in two free throws.
The senior sank both, giving Bishop the 48-46 lead with 48.8 seconds remaining, the Cardinals first lead since being up 3-2 with 6 minutes left in the first quarter.
After another Warriors’ miss, Morphy came up with the rebound and sank both free throws to give his team the 50-46 advantage with 29.7 seconds remaining.
Gossett would then come up with another steal with 22 seconds left, but missed both free throws, giving the Warriors a chance.
St. Pius could not buy a basket, however, and Gossett came up with the rebound, missing both free throws again but this time Williams came up with the offensive board, took a foul, and sank 1-of-2 to give the Cardinals a 51-46 lead with 9.7 seconds left.
The Cardinals would go on to win by that score.
“I can’t give enough credit to our guys for sticking to the game plan and never getting their heads down,” said Bishop coach James Coronado. “We could’ve given up after a few big plays by their No. 5 (Riley) but we kept with it and it proved to be the difference.
“We won this game with great defense down the stretch, no doubt.”
Now Bishop turns its attention to a Dana Hills team that defeated Long Beach Millikan High by a similar margin, 61-56.
Dana Hills, based in Orange County, will be driving up for the CIF final on Friday, the program’s first CIF-SS championship game in its history.