In a boys basketball season filled with memorable games and performances, both sides of the Bay played a little "Can You Top This?" on Tuesday night.
In the East Bay, longtime coaches and fans were trying to remember a better North Coast Section first-round game and individual effort than Livermore sophomore Amare Chandler in his team's historic 83-80 overtime Division 1 win at California-San Ramon.
Chandler, a 6-foot-6 wing, scored a career-high 40 points, making two buzzer-beating 3-pointers - one to send the game into overtime and the other to win it - as the Cowboys won their first NCS road game in school history, according to 40-year head coach Mike Tripp.
"Yes, no doubt about it, that was the best game I've been involved in and the best performance by a player," Tripp said. "And Amare's had some amazing ones this season."
It's been a watershed season in general for the Cowboys, who broke a 14-year, 121-game East Bay Athletic League losing streak on Jan. 9 with a 74-63 home win over Amador Valley-Pleasanton, a team it will face in Friday's quarterfinals. Livermore also beat EBAL round-robin champion De La Salle 51-45 for the first time in school history last week and its 18-9 record is its best in more than three decades.
Few figured the 10th-seeded Cowboys would pull out Tuesday's win when Chandler picked up his fourth personal foul in the middle of the third quarter, just about the time California's potent trio of Jaiden Jones (28 points), Santa Clara-bound Brayde Kuykendall (26) and Emeka Ifediora (18) got rolling.
But Livermore - which got 15 points from sophomore Ryder Shah-Welch (who was scoreless in a regular-season loss at California) and 10 each from CT Harper and Dylan Wherry - hung close enough for Chandler to send the game into overtime 69-69 with a top of the key swish with five seconds left in regulation.
Then he won it with a 3-pointer from well beyond the line along the left wing with a hand in his face with two seconds left. With no timeouts, a long heave wasn't close for the Grizzlies (14-13).
Chandler finished 12 of 19 from the field with six 3-pointers, along with 11 rebounds and three steals. He came in averaging better than 22 points per game and is considered one of the top sophomores in Northern California if not the state.
"This was for the seniors because those are my boys," he said. "I could not let them down."
On the game winner he said, "I saw (the defender) backing up. He was kind of flat-footed, so I either had to go to the rim or pull up." With four fouls he couldn't risk a charge, but that's not why he decided on the long-range shot. "If I went inside, I think I probably would have been doubled and I couldn't take the last shot. In those situations, I feel I should have the ball and take the last shot."
Riordan tops St. Ignatius II: Just as Chandler was being mobbed in San Ramon, Chronicle No. 1 Riordan tipped off at home with No. 3 St. Ignatius to finish off the West Catholic Athletic League season. The teams hoped to match the drama of Riordan's heart-stopping 53-51 win over the Wildcats Jan. 27 at sold out USF on Andrew Hilman's improbable buzzer-beater.
Instead, they topped it - nearly doubling the score - as Riordan (23-1, 14-0) pulled out a 100-95 double-overtime classic, called by former longtime Riordan coach and athletic director Ron Isola "the most amazing game I've seen in this gym in 60 years."
Hilman outdid himself with a career-high 33 points before fouling out in the second overtime. That left it up to junior Cole White to go for a career-high 27 points and 6-8 post JP Pihtovs to add 16 points, eight rebounds and four blocks. The win pushed the Crusaders' WCAL-record win streak to 44 and was their Central Coast Section-record 54th consecutive against a CCS team.
It offset the efforts of Noah Kirsch-Lopez (21 points), Raymond Whitley (20 points, eight rebounds, seven assists), Shawn Boquiren (18 points), Steele Labagh (15 points) and Anthony D'Acquisto (14 points) for St. Ignatius (21-3, 12-2). SI was without 6-9 sophomore Alex Moore, the team's leading scorer and rebounder who is out for the year with a knee injury.
Two late free throws by Riordan's DJ Armstrong sent the game into the first overtime and a 3-pointer at the buzzer by Boquiren sent the game to a second OT, where White took over with eight late points.
"Both teams played their guts out and every fan got their money's worth," Riordan coach Joey Curtin said. "It was a battle of attrition. I didn't think there could be a better game than the first, but this one might never be topped. Neither team was afraid of the moment."
The CCS playoff pairings were announced Wednesday with games starting Friday. Riordan will be the No. 1 seed in the Open Division and St. Ignatius No. 2. The CCS finals this season have moved to USF after more than 20 years at Santa Clara University.
"I've said since the summer, watch out for St. Ignatius - they're a NorCal Open team," Curtin said. "They're big, can shoot and they defend. I wouldn't doubt it if we see them again. At least once."
This article originally published at Livermore, Riordan boys basketball teams go into OT for memorable wins.