Eastside Catholic defeats Bishop Blanchet in double overtime
The Eastside Catholic Crusaders faced off at home against the Bishop Blanchet Bears on Saturday, Jan. 20. Both teams showcased exceptional skill as they built momentum in the first quarter, including a crowd-pleasing dunk for the Crusaders and a floating overhand lob for the Bears. With the teams answering each other nearly bucket-for-bucket, the Bears ended the opening quarter ahead, 16-14.
The second quarter remained as energized as the first. The Bears resorted to aggressive defence, having players run the court end-to-end to maintain a slim 22-18 lead. But the Bears could not stop Crusader Jacob Cofie. On a hot streak, Cofie scored a series of 2-pointers that gave the Crusaders a 30-26 lead at the half.
The third quarter opened with baskets from Crusaders Yabi Aklog as well as Cofie. But the Bears refused to give up and answered with shots of their own as well as free throws awarded from fouls due to mounting frustrations for both teams. The quarter ended in a 42-42 tie. It was either team’s victory to claim.
Both teams appeared flustered, seeming to have trouble finding a groove as they began the final quarter. Sinking the first bucket of the fourth quarter, the Bears’ Jonah Drezner added three points to the board despite an aggressive block from Crusader Jora Grewal. The Bears wanted the win.
But the Crusaders returned. After a strategic timeout, the Crusaders came back with a series of 2- and 3-point buckets for what might have been a comfortable 51-45 advantage.
However, unphased by the mounting pressure, the Bears focused with precision shooting, tying the score again. But their rebound did not stop there—in a surprising twist, a 3-point bucket from Drezner flipped the lead back to the Bears, 57-54.
Unwilling to relent, the Crusaders maneuvered the ball downcourt. With less than 30 seconds remaining, the Crusaders set up Kayden Greene for a 3-pointer to tie the game, 57-57, and throwing play into overtime.
With another four minutes on the clock, the Bears put up the first overtime points with a Jack Johnson 3-pointer. Consecutive buckets from the Crusaders kept it close but another 3-point bucket from the Bears’ Nate Joseph tied it up again, 63-63. With tensions rising, consecutive fouls brought both teams to the line to end overtime with another tie, 67 all.
In the second overtime, Cofie managed to rally the Crusaders with a well-timed, momentum-changing slam dunk to give Eastside Catholic the lead. Despite a game-ending injury for Cofie, the rally continued with free throws and a 2-point bucket from Greene. In the end, the home team managed to hold the Bishop Blanchet Bears to just one new basket and deliver a hard-fought double overtime 77-69 victory for the Eastside Catholic Crusaders.
Eastside Catholic plays next against O’Dea High School on Tuesday, Jan. 23, at O’Dea.
