SANTA CLARA — Westmont trailed virtually the entire game. Down by seven midway through the fourth quarter, the Warriors went on an 11-0 run to take a four-point lead with 25.2 seconds left.
It looked as though Westmont, which had lost to Christopher three times during the regular season, was finally going to break through with the Central Coast Section Division II championship as a prize.
But Christopher was not ready to throw in the towel. Anton Mendezona knocked down a 3-pointer to bring the Cougars within one. Then they fouled to stop the clock and Westmont misfired on two free throws.
Christopher elected not to call timeout.
“I told the guys we got to push it, transition, we don’t have time to set it up, play basketball,” Christopher coach Adam Sax said.
Junior guard Trey Caragio grabbed the ball and streaked down the court on the dribble, drove the lane and put up the game-winning shot, off the glass and down through the net with 2.1 seconds left to give Christopher a 51-50 win and a CCS championship Saturday at Santa Clara High.
“Stay calm,” Caragio said of his mindset. “We’ve been in that situation before. This year we’ve had a lot of blowouts, but those close games are what we live for. Championship games, game-winners, that’s as big as it gets. We’ve been here three years in a row. We knew we were going to get it this year.”
Christopher grabbed the lead at the outset, going up 8-0, 12-3 and 19-10 at the end of the first quarter before Westmont started to right itself.
The Warriors got back into the game with the 3-pointer. They made 12 in all, accounting for 36 of their 50 points. Seth Reese made five and scored a game-high 19 points. Gabe Mathiesen (13 points) and Ryan Yee (11) knocked down three apiece.
Yee’s 3s all came at crucial times. His third-quarter 3 gave Westmont its first lead of the game, 34-33. Then in Westmont’s late fourth-quarter rally he made one to tie it and another right after to give Westmont a 49-46 lead with 28 seconds left.
But it proved to not be quite enough.
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“We shot the ball well,” Westmont coach John Franza said. “Wish we could’ve made one more. A tough loss for the kids. But our locker room conversation was, `keep your head up. We’ll get a bid for NorCal, see where we go.’ That’s what we’re looking at now. We’ll be good to go next week.”
Christopher (25-2) had eight players score compared to four for Westmont. Jaxen Robinson led the way with 10 points as the Cougars won the school’s and the community’s first CCS basketball title.
“First time in history of Gilroy, most wins in history of Gilroy, first title in school history,” Sax said. “A lot of firsts. The kids played hard all year and they deserve it.”
