Boys hoops: Eastside Catholic drops first playoff game to O’Dea
The Eastside Catholic Crusaders lost 73-58 to the O’Dea Fighting Irish, moving them to the next round of double elimination.
The first quarter was filled with action-packed drives and aggressive defense from both sides. O’Dea opened up with a 5-0 run highlighted by a contested fadeaway three from Levi Orbino, but Eastside Catholic responded immediately with three consecutive contested layups capped off by a dunk from Anthony Williams. Steven Sun then took over for the Crusaders, hitting a mid-range jumper and a three-pointer to give Eastside Catholic a 13-11 lead. O’Dea quickly fired back as Nino Moksivong hit a three and a contested layup to push the Irish ahead by five, but a deep buzzer beater three from Tytan McNeal kept it close, making the score 18-16 O’Dea heading into the second quarter.
With it still being anyone’s game, O’Dea wasted no time breaking it open, jumping out to a 14-0 run highlighted by layups from Juju Duckett and Gavin Bristol along with two three-pointers, respectively to take a 30-16 lead. The Fighting Irish kept their foot on the gas with a three from Brian Webster and a layup from Moksivong. Eastside Catholic fought back though, as a deep three from Sun and a free throw from Williams made the score 35-20. Even though O’Dea added a few more points from Peyton Brooks, the Crusaders went on an 8-0 run highlighted by a three from McNeal. O’Dea quickly fired back as a layup from Makai Harris and free throws from Yabbi Aklog and Kevelle Parkman made the score 40-31 heading into halftime.
After the break, Eastside Catholic looked to spark a comeback, as Williams started their scoring with a contested layup. The Fighting Irish continued to control the game, though, by starting the quarter off with a 14-2 run, highlighted by Gavin Bristol scoring six out of those 14 points. The Crusaders would not go down without a fight, going on a 7-0 run highlighted by a few free throws and layups from Sun and McNeal, making the score 54-40 with 15 seconds left. But a last second layup from O’Dea would push the score to 56-40 heading into the fourth quarter.
With one last chance to comeback, the Crusaders had their work cut out for them. Bristol got O’Dea started with a violent dunk, but the Crusaders responded quickly with two McNeal free throws and a layup from Aklog to make the score 59-44. O’Dea got back in the driver’s seat though, as Bristol converted an alley-oop bucket and Webster hit a layup, but Aklog answered immediately with a thunderous dunk to make it 63-46. The two teams traded buckets, but an O’Dea steal led to a Bristol layup that sealed the game at 69-50 with two minutes remaining. Bristol sealed the game with a monster dunk, and despite a few late buckets from Eastside Catholic, O’Dea closed out the game with a 73-58 victory.
