Clank. The first free throw gave up the ghost.
Clank. Second free throw. Hit the front of the rim again.
Tyler Hagan, guard for Bishop’s, was fouled attempting a three-pointer against Palm Springs on the first day of the Torrey Pines Holiday Classic. He was awarded three free throws.
With .8 seconds left. After the second miss, the 6 feet 1 inch tall senior stepped way back above the circle and took a deep breath. The Knights were tied, 61-61, and he had to make the next one, or Palm Springs would likely force overtime.
The third one rattled in. Bishop’s won, 62-61.
In the stands, at 9:45 p.m., a sparse crowd at this late hour, members of the Sierra (outside Fresno) team were laughing and smiling. “These are the guys we want,” said one member, of the potential day-two matchup. In other words, they thought they could beat Bishop’s. Not meant as a compliment. (Bishop’s beat them 65-61.)
“It was a tough win,” said Luke Ball, a senior, the next day at an optional Bishop’s shoot-around. “We were losing most of the game. It was our first game back from the (winter) break.”
One of the Bishop’s players said, “Sierra wanted us? We’ll have to talk about that.”
The Knights, behind Hagan’s 22 points, downed Sierra, 65-61, that night.
“Luke is our defensive stopper,” said Owen Hill, a Class of ’21 graduate and team member and now an assistant coach while he attends Miramar College. “We ask him every game who he’s gonna stop. The guy we put him on against Palm Springs didn’t do anything.”
Ball and Hagan played most or all of the game against Palm Springs. Eight players make up the rotation. Hagan scored 26, while senior Shea Rueda was first off the bench and sophomore Jacob Tsai started the second quarter and contributed eight key points, including a layup with 14.2 seconds left on an assist from Hagan to go ahead 61-60.
“I’ve been coming off the bench since my sophomore year and supplying some energy off the bench, as coach (Nick) Levine calls it,” said Rueda at the shoot-around. “I’m really interested in political science. I interned for (Congressman) Scott Peters. Ideally, I want to be in the Senate representing California—to be in the room where it happens.”
Unfortunately as a Californian, Rueda said, “I’m a big Celtics fan. My dad lived in Honolulu and watched Larry Bird, Robert Parrish, and Kevin McHale. They watched whatever teams were on cable TV back then.”
Tsai, a 5 feet 9 inches tall guard, said of team chemistry, “When one guy is playing more or getting more points, no one cares. We play together.” He and his teammates used the term “togetherness” that Levine promotes.
“I love chemistry,” continued Tsai. “The teacher is super-patient. I want to understand natural phenomena.”
Ball, the lockdown defender, said, “Tyler (Hagan) and I help the team grow—as human beings. I love bio and math, my two faves.”
