Dolapo Opere’s first leap into the air Tuesday night left him
gimpy. His last gave Gilroy High’s boys basketball team a 57-55 win
over the visiting Silver Creek Raiders in the first round of the
Central Coast Section playoffs.
GILROY – Dolapo Opere’s first leap into the air Tuesday night left him gimpy. His last gave Gilroy High’s boys basketball team a 57-55 win over the visiting Silver Creek Raiders in the first round of the Central Coast Section playoffs.
With .3 seconds remaining in the game and the Raiders inbounding the ball under Gilroy’s basket, Opere (14 points, 13 rebounds) snatched a lob pass above a crowd of players to give him his third steal of the game and seal the victory.
“It felt really good to get the ball,” Opere said.
A pre-game chest bump with teammate Jamie Jensen during introductions almost cost the junior the best game of his high school career.
Landing awkwardly, Opere looked to be in pain just before tip-off, shaking his right leg and grabbing his ankle.
“I wanted to come out because it hurt pretty bad,” he said, “but I ended up starting the game pretty good.”
Opere scored eight points and grabbed seven rebounds in the first half, as the Mustangs entered the locker room trailing 27-26. The two teams were even at 14 at the end of the first quarter.
Silver Creek took a 44-41 advantage into the fourth period, but Gilroy regained the lead – the 12th and final lead change of the game – with 5:12 remaining when Jensen (nine points, eight rebounds) grabbed a missed shot on the back end of two Tyler Hartman free throws and scored the putback to put the Mustangs up 49-48.
Almost five minutes later, Hartman (seven points, five rebounds, three blocks) scored the final point of the game on the front end of two free throws.
“It almost gave me a heart attack,” Gilroy coach Jeremy Dirks said of the back-and-forth nature of the game.
There were more than 30 turnovers combined between the two clubs, setting up a seriies of wild possessions.
“We were out of control. We were doing exactly the opposite of what we were telling [the players].”
Dirks added that a win in the playoffs is never something to feel too bad about.
“It’s my first year as coach and we won our first CCS game,” he said. “I’m ecstatic.”
Opere hit two free throws to give Gilroy a 51-48 lead before saving the next GHS possession by diving to the floor following a blocked shot. Opere grabbed the ball with 4:12 left in the game and alertly signaled timeout before defenders could close in or referees could whistle a traveling violation.
Elijah Harrell (12 points) was fouled coming out of the timeout, giving GHS two more free throws to go ahead 53-48.
The Raiders cut into the lead to make it 55-54 and had a chance to go ahead on a steal by Jonathan Pabelonio, but the point guard missed the layup contested by Harrell, eventually leading to a made Greg Hamik (11 points) free throw to give Gilroy a 56-54 lead with 12.1 seconds left.
The two teams traded free throws in the span of three seconds, setting the Raiders up with possession with 8.6 seconds remaining, trailing 57-55.
Silver Creek moved down the court but dribbled the ball off of a Gilroy player’s foot, stopping the clock with less than half a second on the clock. The ensuing inbounds pass went straight to Opere, giving Gilroy a win to set up a second-round CCS game Thursday at 7 p.m. at Alisal (18-8).
Faisal Al-manseer and Chijoke Nwuzi scored 18 and 15 points, respectively, for Silver Creek.
Harrell said he is pretty confident the Mustangs will be able advance past their Tri-County Athletic League rivals Alisal.
“We played them in league twice, we played them in the summer, we know their plays – it’s definitely an advantage,” Harrell said. “We just got to step it up in practice and leave it all on the floor Thursday.”
In the two squads’ matchups this season, both teams won the home games.
Tuesday’s loss was tough to swallow for Silver Creek, which might not have a basketball program next year. The East Side Union High School District is considering cutting all athletic programs.
“I think it’s bad for the kids, bad for the neighborhoods,” Raiders coach Cliff Warren said of that possibility after the game. “There’s a gang problem on the streets. A lot of these kids wouldn’t be in school if it weren’t for sports.”
