Campolindo shakes off miracle shot to defeat Modesto Christian in overtime

Following a post-Christmas miracle, reality arrived quickly Tuesday night at Modesto Christian High School.

When Crusaders guard Jeff Wu banked home a buzzer-beating three-pointer to take Campolindo into overtime, the tiny gym shook with a reaction befitting a state title.

But as MC celebrated, the Cougars walked back to their bench with a composure they maintained throughout the extra period as they pulled away to win the 15th annual Holiday Hoop Classic with a 72-63 victory.

All involved with the Crusaders will first remember the loss – how Campolindo erased a seven-point deficit in the final six minutes of regulation and dominated the four-minute overtime to keep MC from winning its tournament for the first time since 2005.

But the fans in the packed gym will remember the moment and the sound of Wu’s shot.

Campolindo (8-2) led 58-55 with 12.7 seconds left and had committed only three fouls in the second half. It’s an enviable position, since all the Cougars had to do was foul MC three times after inbound plays to run out the clock.

The ploy worked twice, winding all but 2.2 seconds off the clock. And with one more foul to give, a Campolindo victory seemed certain.

Inbounding at midcourt, Christian Ellis led Wu with a sideline bounce pass toward the home basket. Wu expected to be fouled, but he took one quick dribble before rising untouched to fire the ball toward the basket.

“During practice, I hit NBA-range three-pointers, so the coaches tell me that every time teams try to foul me in those situations, I need to get the shot off,” Wu said. “I took one dribble and shot it, but I didn’t know it was going to go in. I didn’t call the bank shot. There wasn’t any contact.”

Wu’s teardrop drive gave MC the first basket of overtime, but the Cougars dominated the rest of the way, scoring five points in a row, then finishing on a 7-0 run for their second nine-point lead .

The first came in the opening three minutes of the third quarter, when an 8-2 run gave Campolindo a 36-27 lead. MC looked all but done at that point, since the outside game wasn’t producing.

On top of that, the teams were battling to a draw inside, with the Cougars’ 6-foot-7, 250-pound center, Chris Hansen, dueling MC’s Anthony Townes. Hansen (28 points, eight rebounds) was winning the battle of strength, Townes (19 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three steals) the battle of quickness.

But over the next seven minutes, MC played its best ball of the tournament. Wu hit two three-pointers and Darrian Grays added another from beyond the arc to spur a 21-5 run that gave the Crusaders a 48-41 lead with 5:33 left.

Campolindo wasn’t about to go away, and MC knew it.

“They’re real patient, and we went through that in our scouting report,” MC coach Richard Midgley said. “They take their time and they work for the shot they want. We were up six at one point, and every time we started to take control, they’d hit a shot. They have toughness to make plays when they need to.”

The Cougars went back inside to Hansen, who scored seven points in the fourth quarter, including five in a row to give his team a 54-53 lead with 1:18 left. And when Sean Smith hit two free throws with 12.7 seconds remaining to give Campolindo a 58-55 lead, the game appeared in the bag, given the foul situation.

Then Wu struck, and unfortunately for the Crusaders (8-2), an anticlimactic overtime followed.

“I think that when I hit the shot, everybody thought that we had won the game, but obviously not,” said Wu, who finished with 17 points. “We stopped focusing on the little things. We stopped boxing out, and we shot quick threes instead of going inside. It was a tough loss.”

Salesian 58, Turlock 55 – Junior guard Brandon McGhee drilled a step-back three-pointer from the right corner as time expired for the Pride (8-3).

The Bulldogs (6-8) erased a six-point deficit in the final minutes to forge a 55-55 tie on two free throws by Demsen McFaddin and had the ball in the final 30 seconds with a chance to play for a winning shot.

But Salesian rebounded a miss with about six seconds left and quickly got the ball upcourt to McGhee, whose shot claimed 13th place for the perennial Division IV power from Richmond.

Devan Bains led all scorers with 20 for Turlock, while McFaddin finished with 14 and Ryan Downs 12.

Patterson 69, Gregori 55 – The Tigers’ wakeup call didn’t register until the second half of the 15th-place game, which had a 9 a.m. tipoff. Patterson took control by outscoring the Jaguars 18-5 in the third quarter after trailing by a point at halftime.

Kevin Phelps got inside to score 23 points for the Tigers (6-6), while Damarrio Hammonds added 15 and Gurkirt Heerey 14. Hammonds and Heerey scored 10 points apiece in the second half. Alex Badillo had 18 (nine in the fourth quarter) and Tyler Janitz 11 for Gregori (3-9).

Notes – Jaelen Ragsdale had 19 points in Weston Ranch’s 68-51 loss to Inglewood in the fifth-place game, giving the junior guard 99 for the tournament. Pleasant Grove’s Marquese Chriss then scored 22 in a 65-51 consolation championship victory over Freedom, giving the Washington-bound 6-10 senior center a tournament-high 103 points.

This story was originally published December 30, 2014 at 10:11 PM with the headline "Campolindo shakes off miracle shot to defeat Modesto Christian in overtime."