The box board shows the game switching in the third quarter, but Sobrato’s 48-44 win over Christopher in the second round CCS playoff game changed much earlier.
The Cougars went up 9-2 just 3:16 into the game when Sobrato called a timeout and the momentum switched.
“I told them they came too far, they’ve worked too hard and they put too much work in to for us to miss (those) free throws in that first few minutes,” said Sobrato coach Lee Washington. “I liked they way they were playing: They were taking it to the hole, the refs were calling it the way we like it. I told them they needed to have confidence seeing the ball go through every time.”
Sobrato improves to 19-9 overall this season, while Christopher finishes at 9-16 overall.
It proved crucial as the Bulldogs pulled to within two after the first, within one at the half and taking a seven-point lead in the third quarter. Despite a strong fourth quarter by the Cougars, they weren’t able to get a crucial shot to fall in the waning seconds of the game.
“Sometimes we have games like that were we come out slow, but we have so many guys who that wasn’t right. We had to step it up,” said Sobrato guard Kristian Maldia.
Sobrato will move on to play St. Ignatius 1 p.m. Saturday at Santa Clara High School.
In the third, the Bulldogs went on a 16-6 run to take their largest lead of the game before Christopher rallied at the end to keep the score within seven.
But the Cougars weren’t done.
“I’m proud of my guys. Sobrato played very well; they played hard. But I’m proud of my guys. They bought in, played hard all. Great attitude, great character. Our seniors played tonight — Zach (Fishler), Evan (Shapiro) and Shane (Suttles) — I’ve very proud of them and how they played tonight,” said coach Eric Davis.
Christopher, led by Shane Suttles’ 20 points, pulled to within three with 20 seconds to play and the ball.
The Cougars got up a quality look at a 3-pointer, which was off the mark, but Alex Pacheco pulled down the offensive board. Christopher got up a layup that also lipped out.
“(It came down to) basic fundamentals. We’ve got to work on our shot. Hopefully we’ll get it down for next year,” said Miika Smith.
Davis said he was hoping for a quick layup followed by a foul given how Sobrato was having problems shooting free throws on the night. He said he wanted to avoid a 3-pointer because his boys were having problems shooting from behind the arc, but was still pleased with the looks they got.
“It just wasn’t our night shooting it from 3,” Davis said.
Sobrato’s Joe Holla pulled down the board, and Tim Givens drew the foul, hitting the front end of two free throws to put the game away.
“That kind of was the difference in the game, with guys like Tim Givens and Joe Halla came off the bench, next man up, and they were ready to contribute,” Washington said.
The free throw was just the eighth on the night for the Bulldogs, who missed 19 shots from the charity stripe, including their first nine of the game.
Sobrato’s struggles at the line were matched by Christopher’s struggles with ball control.
The Cougars turned the ball over 18 times for the game, twice as many as they forced out of Sobrato.
Shuttes, however, led the charge for the Cougars in trying to keep them alive in the playoffs.
His 20 points was nearly matched by his 15 rebounds, with led both teams in both categories.
Smith followed with 10 points.
For Sobrato, Maldia led the Bulldogs with 14 points, including a big 3 to put the team up by seven midway through the fourth quarter. It was the last field goal of the quarter, as Sobrato finished out its scoring from the line.
“The thing is, we work hard for this. Everything on the court, isn’t a shock to us, because we know the work we put in,” Maldia said.
The Cougars did a strong job at shutting down Sobrato’s big man Karl Mann, holding him to seven points, all coming in the third quarter.
“He was obviously the focus. Shane did an excellent job tonight. He had to do the dirty work tonight,” Davis said.
Sobrato now has to turn around and play the No. 1 seed in the boys Division II tournament. The Bulldogs were in a similar situation last year, having to play Mitty in the quarter finals.
But this year, the Bulldogs have already knocked off a stronger opponent, taking down one-loss Leigh in the BVAL tournament.
“We know we can beat good teams and for us, we got to keep doing it. We’re a tough team,” Washington said. “We’re not worried too much about what other teams are throwing out. We just got to focus on what we’re doing.”
