Rudy Blue Drains Buzzer Beater to Lift Bishop Diego Over Cate 63-62

Rudy Blue punctuated a frantic fourth quarter with a buzzer-beating three-pointer that lifted the Bishop Diego boys’ basketball team to a 63-62 victory over Cate on Wednesday  night.

The visiting Cardinals held a double digit lead early in the fourth quarter, but Cate rode a wave of momentum spurred on by the home fans to get back into the game before ultimately coming up short in a crucial Tri-Valley League contest..

“I feel like they had the momentum. We were trying to run some clock and we kind of got a little shook by the crowd,” said Bishop Diego coach James Coronado of Cate’s fourth quarter run. “This is always one of the toughest places in our league to play and we just fought through it. We never apologize for a win.”

Blue and Crew Sjovold led Bishop Diego with 15 points apiece. Gabe Villa added ten points, including two first quarter three-pointers that helped the Cardinals creep out in front early.

Bishop Diego was determined to slow down Cate senior standout Marcus Scudder, who finished with a game-high 22 points despite facing a packed paint and multiple defenders on nearly every catch.

A three-pointer by Sjovold gave the Cardinals a 30-23 lead with just over one minute remaining in the first half. With time running down in the first half, an offensive rebound and put-back by Luke Eliassen gave Bishop Diego a 34-25 lead going into the locker room at halftime.

Bishop Diego continued its long range barrage as a three-pointer by Jude Kadi increased the Cardinals’  lead to 40-27 midway through the third quarter. 

However, the fourth quarter belonged to Cate as the Rams outscored Bishop Diego 20-12 in the final stanza.

Senior shooting guard Joshua Butler led the charge for Cate with eight fourth quarter points.He finished with 18 points overall.

A basket inside by Butler cut the Cate deficit to 58-51 with 4:16 remaining in the game. Scudder followed with an offensive rebound off his own miss and a put-back that brought the Rams within 58-55.

On the ensuing Cate possession Scudder found a rare driving lane and finished the layup to make the score 58-55 with three minutes left in the game.

“It was effort, it was execution and it was our seniors leading the way,” said Cate first-year head coach Casey Ortiz of his team’s comeback. “It’s a bummer for them that it didn’t end in our favor, but we can still be proud of this one.”

Butler banked in a floater that cut the Cate deficit to 58-57 with two minutes to play, but Bishop Diego responded with a basket inside by Tua Rojas that extended its lead to 60-57 with 1:19 remaining.

Coming out of a timeout, Scudder came off a screen and knocked down what appeared to be a game-tying three-pointer, but it was ruled a deep two. Trailing 60-59 with under a minute remaining Cate forced Bishop Diego into a shot clock violation.

Cate senior Jacob Gabbay made a beautiful pass to the corner and Butler drained a three-pointer with eight seconds left that put Cate ahead 62-60. 

With the gym in a frenzy Bishop Dieigo quickly got the ball up the court where Sjovold collapsed the defense and passed to Blue who connected on a deep three-pointer that was heavily contested to win the game.

“It was an amazing feeling, but honestly it’s just the team,” Blue said. “Being a part of this program I can’t ask for anything more.”

With the victory Bishop Diego improves to 6-6 overall and 1-0 in Tri-Valley league play. Cate drops to 5-4 overall and 1-1 in tri-Valley League play.