SHERMAN OAKS — Fun. It’s what sports are built on.
It might not have seemed like it amidst all the chaos, screams and energy that filled the Notre Dame High School gym during a wild semifinal game in the Mission League boys basketball tournament Monday night. But fun is what united every player on the court.
Notre Dame junior guard NaVorro Bowman seemed to be having fun in his own way as he scored 32 points, which included a buzzer-beating 3-pointer over Crespi junior guard Carter Barnes to end the third quarter. After the shot went in, Bowman and Barnes stared each other down, just centimeters apart.
It seemed big in the moment, as the 3 put Notre Dame up by three points, and it was. Notre Dame went on to edge Crespi 82-78 in the semifinals of the Mission League tournament.
Notre Dame advances to face Sierra Canyon in the league tournament championship game on Wednesday night.
“It’s Mission League basketball in February,” said Notre Dame head coach Matt Sargeant, whose team improved to 19-6 overall. “This is why you coach in this league: to be in games like that. It’s intense, it’s fun. Got great players on both sides making big plays, loud gym.”
The Bowman buzzer-beater wasn’t his most crucial shot in the game.
Two separate times with under two minutes remaining in the contest, Crespi (19-11) fouled Bowman and sent him to the free-throw line. If he missed one, the Celts would be within three points and would have a chance to tie the game.
Bowman drilled both of his free throws on both occasions, making sure the lead for the Knights stayed at four.
“If I want our season to keep going, I have to make them,” Bowman said on the late free throws. “Free throws, they matter, no matter if they’re one point, just got to knock them down. We work on it in practice a lot. So just got to stay focused.”
Notre Dame entered halftime up by five points.
In the third quarter, the Knights were down by three after eight straight points from Crespi junior guard Nickon Daei.
The Knights would answer.
Throughout the fourth quarter, it was a back-and-forth joust between the teams.
“Keeping it one possession at a time,” Sergeant said. “Never try to get everything back in one play. And just high school kids, you’re just trying to keep them as level-headed as possible. But we have a really mentally tough group, so that’s pretty easy to do with this group.”
The Celts were led by junior Isaiah Barnes, who scored 24 points. He did the majority of his damage around the rim. His brother, Carter, had three points.
Their efforts weren’t enough to get their team into the tournament finals against Sierra Canyon.
Notre Dame will face Sierra Canyon in the tournament final on Wednesday.
A little more than three weeks ago, the Knights lost by four points to Sierra Canyon, but they hope for a different outcome this time.
Bowman said he knows what his team has to do differently in this game.
“Just got to come out harder,” Bowman said. “We didn’t play our best game against them, and we came up short. So we’re just gonna work on it in practice and see what we can do.”
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