Boys basketball: Marin Catholic’s rally falls just short in Open battle

There was plenty of doubt Thursday as Marin Catholic made its first foray into the open division of the North Coast Section boys basketball playoffs.

That doubt was doubled when visiting Dougherty Valley (San Ramon) thoroughly dominated the second quarter and built a 48-33 halftime lead.

No. 3 Marin Catholic came out of the half and staged a comeback, eventually tying the game, but No. 6 Dougherty Valley – also nicknamed the Wildcats — never trailed and closed out an 83-79 victory.

“We’ll never lose hope in a game,” said MC’s Bentley Morrow, who had the unenviable task of guarding super sophomore Alonzo Walker III (game-high 27 points). “We knew we could come back. We’ve played that way all year. We never back down against anybody because we trust each other and we trust the system.”

Despite the loss, Marin Catholic is set to continue play in the Open Division to determine seeding for the State playoffs. Marin Catholic is set to host No. 5 Moreau Catholic on Wednesday. Moreau Catholic fell 71-68 against No. 4 De La Salle in overtime in Wednesday’s other first-round game.

Dougherty Valley coach Mike Hansen, even after his team fashioned a 15-0 second-quarter run to take command of the game, was not surprised by MC’s tenaciousness.

“They don’t go easy,” Hansen said. “They send four to five guys in at a time. It’s like a hockey game. We knew they’d make a run. It’s the open division. Nobody’s going away.”

Marin Catholic (23-4) never flinched to start the contest, even with Walker III going on an 11-point first period scoring binge. MC battled back from an early five-point deficit and actually took a 23-19 lead on late buckets by Joe Hammond and Jack Herman.

Dougherty Valley tied the game in the final second of the quarter when Rylan Sevilla converted two of three free throws after drawing a foul on a shot just inside the half-court line.

Without warning, however, the game changed dramatically.

With the score knotted 29-29, Sevilla started the game-changing turn of events by converting a three-point play the old-fashioned way.

And suddenly Dougherty Valley was unstoppable. Rashod Cotton Jr. caught fire and scored 12 of his 25 points in the quarter and Sevilla added seven more in the period.

Marin Catholic was reeling by the time the buzzer sounded for intermission.

“We kind of laid an egg in that second quarter,” MC team captain Joe Hammond said. “In the open division you can’t have that. It’s going to take 32 minutes of focused play to get the job done.”

Marin Catholic was a shadow of its normal self in the pivotal second quarter. MC turned the ball over four times, played shoddy defense and was outrebounded 6-1 in the period.

Marin Catholic first-year coach Kevin Vasquez said he did not mince words during his halftime message.

“We got punched in the nose by an East Bay team,” Vasquez said. “We did not play tough in that quarter and they just pushed us around.”

But in the third quarter, MC was doing the pushing.

Oliver Myers’ two three-pointers and a trio of field goals by Morrow led the comeback. But truth be told, MC’s big rally was in typical style with no less than nine players contributing all over the court.

A little more than two minutes into the fourth quarter, Marin Catholic pulled to even terms at 62-62 on Hammond’s jump shot.

It was the first time Marin Catholic had not trailed since three minutes into the second quarter.

MC, however, never regained the lead.

Despite Micah Pierce’s 11-point output in the final quarter, MC could not find a way to stop Dougherty Valley’s two-headed scoring monster of Walker III and Cotton Jr., who combined for 17 points in the final eight minutes.

“We never quit. We fought until the end. There’s not much more you can ask for,” Hammond said. “Guys stepped up in the second half. We flipped the switch and really started playing defense. That got us back into the game.”