Rudy Blue punctuated a frantic fourth quarter with a buzzer-beating three-pointer that lifted the Bishop Diego boys’ basketball team to a 63-62 victory over Cate on Wednesday night.
The visiting Cardinals held a double-digit lead early in the fourth quarter, but Cate rode a wave of momentum spurred on by the home fans to get back into the game before ultimately coming up short in a crucial Tri-Valley League contest..
“I feel like they had the momentum. We were trying to run some clock, and we kind of got a little shook by the crowd,” said Bishop Diego coach James Coronado of Cate’s fourth-quarter run. “This is always one of the toughest places in our league to play, and we just fought through it. We never apologize for a win.”
Blue and Crew Sjovold led Bishop Diego with 15 points apiece. Gabe Villa added 10 points, including two first-quarter three-pointers that helped the Cardinals creep out in front early.
Bishop Diego was determined to slow down Cate senior standout Marcus Scudder, who finished with a game-high 22 points despite facing a packed paint and multiple defenders on nearly every catch.
A three-pointer by Sjovold gave the Cardinals a 30-23 lead with a bit more than one minute remaining in the first half. With time running down in the first half, an offensive rebound and put-back by Luke Eliassen gave Bishop Diego a 34-25 lead going into the locker room at halftime.
Bishop Diego continued its long-range barrage as a three-pointer by Jude Kadi increased the Cardinals’ lead to 40-27 midway through the third quarter.
However, the fourth quarter belonged to Cate as the Rams outscored Bishop Diego 20-12 in the final stanza.
Senior shooting guard Joshua Butler led the charge for Cate with eight fourth-quarter points. He finished with 18 points overall.
A basket inside by Butler cut the Cate deficit to 58-51 with 4:16 remaining in the game. Scudder followed with an offensive rebound off his own miss and a put-back that brought the Rams within 58-55.
On the ensuing Cate possession, Scudder found a rare driving lane and finished the layup to make the score 58-55 with three minutes left in the game.
“It was effort, it was execution, and it was our seniors leading the way,” said Cate first-year head coach Casey Ortiz of his team’s comeback. “It’s a bummer for them that it didn’t end in our favor, but we can still be proud of this one.”
Butler banked in a floater that cut the Cate deficit to 58-57 with two minutes to play, but Bishop Diego responded with a basket inside by Tua Rojas that extended its lead to 60-57 with 1:19 remaining.
Coming out of a timeout, Scudder came off a screen and knocked down what appeared to be a game-tying three-pointer, but it was ruled a deep two. Trailing 60-59 with under a minute remaining Cate forced Bishop Diego into a shot clock violation.
Cate senior Jacob Gabbay made a beautiful pass to the corner, and Butler drained a three-pointer with eight seconds left that put Cate ahead 62-60.
With the gym in a frenzy, Bishop Dieigo quickly got the ball up the court, where Sjovold collapsed the defense and passed to Blue, who connected on a deep three-pointer that was heavily contested to win the game.
“It was an amazing feeling, but honestly it’s just the team,” Blue said. “Being a part of this program, I can’t ask for anything more.”
With the victory Bishop Diego, improves to 6-6 overall and 1-0 in Tri-Valley League play. Cate drops to 5-4 overall and 1-1 in Tri-Valley League play.
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