One thing you learn about playing boys basketball games in the West Catholic Athletic League is that most contests are going to come right down to the wire. That was the case in the league opener between Valley Christian and Bellarmine on Wednesday night at Bellarmine College Prep in San Jose. After going the full 32 minutes of regulation with both teams building and relinquishing leads, the game headed to overtime. Bellarmine outscored the Warriors 9-7 in the extra period to take the game 57-55 as Tim Harris' 3-point attempt rattled off the back iron at the final buzzer.

VC began the game strong, jumping out to a 10-2 lead in the first quarter as the Bells struggled to find their offensive rhythm early in the game. Starting sophomore guard, Tim Harris, picked up his second foul in the opening period and was forced to sit out the rest of the half. Combining the loss of Harris with a few key turnovers allowed the Bells to fight their way back into the contest with a 20-7 run and actually take a 5-point going into halftime.

The Warriors needed to right the ship coming out of halftime and scored the first basket of 3rd quarter, but things went downhill from there. Bellarmine combined drives to the hoop with put backs on offensive rebounds to open up a lead as large as 16 points with 3:30 left to play in the period. Fortunately for the Warriors, they were able to gain back some ground on lay ups by Jesse Estrada and Andrew Daou to cut the deficit to 10 points heading into the final quarter.

The last 8 minutes were all VC, as the Warriors overtook the Bells and built a 2-point lead of their own. Tim Harris sparked the team at the beginning of the quarter with some nifty drives to the hoop, but he picked up his 4th foul early and had to take another seat until the last 4 minutes. Senior Jesse Estrada picked up the slack and hit a 3-pointer to tie the score, as well as another lay up to boost the team. 6'9" Tyler Gallau also came off the bench and recorded a basket on a nice post move late. Bellarmine tied the game on a free throw and had a chance to win on their last possession but missed a long 3-pointer.

In overtime, the Bells jumped to a 5-point lead, but again VC battled back. Gallau collected a feed from Estrada and scored to draw the team within 3 points, and Harris was fouled while making a layup. When he made the free throw, the score was tied with less than 30 seconds to play. Bellarmine point guard, Zach Smith, saw his drive to the hoop stifled, but the ball found its way into the hands of Gaffin Reilly, who was fouled and sank both free throws with 4 seconds to play. Harris received the inbounds pass and drove the floor to put up his 3-pointer at the buzzer, but the shot rimmed out, giving the Bells a hard-fought victory.

As always in the WCAL, things don’t get any easier for the Warriors in their next game. The defending Division IV Norcal champions, the Fightin’ Irish of Sacred Heart Cathedral, visit VC on Friday night at 7:30. The Irish also dropped their league opener by two points, losing 44-42 to Archbishop Riordan, ranked #5 in the state by Cal-Hi Sports. Both teams will be looking to get back to .500 in league, so the game should be hotly contested. Be sure to come out and support the Warriors on Friday night at 7:30 pm!

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Upcoming Games (all games at 7:30pm):

Friday, January 5 - VC vs. Sacred Heart Cathedral

Tuesday, January 9 - VC @ Archbishop Mitty

Thursday, January 11 - VC @ Junipero Serra

Saturday, January 13 - VC vs. Archbishop Riordan