Pitman holds off crosstown rival Turlock in boys basketball

Pitman boys basketball coach Harvey Marable was hoping for a blowout in Wednesday’s Central California Conference regular-season finale against crosstown rival Turlock.

He knew it was a pipe dream.

“I wanted to win an easy game so we could relax and enjoy the win,” said Marable. “But I knew that wasn’t going to happen.”

Nights like that just don’t happen against Turlock, which made the Pride work until the final buzzer for a 48-46 victory in its home gym.

With the victory, the Pride ripped an outright championship from its rival’s hands to claim a share of the crown. Turlock (9-18) and Pitman (15-8) finish CCC play with 8-2 records, but based on records against other league foes, the Pride will be awarded the CCC’s No. 1 playoff seed, according to Pitman athletic director Dave Walls.

With Pitman leading 44-43, Turlock 6-foot-5 forward Habib Velasquez fouled out when he was whistled for a blocking call against Dom Von Waaden, who made the basket and the ensuing free throw to give Pitman a 47-43 lead with 46 seconds remaining.

Turlock coach Doug Cornfoot disagreed with the call.

“It’s so hard to get kids to take the charge,” said Cornfoot. “And then when they do it right, they don’t get the call.”

Just 13 seconds later, Turlock got a bit of a reprieve.

Pitman, looking to avoid any stoppage of the clock, committed a blunder when it fouled Turlock guard Oscar Moreno, who calmly sank both freebies to make it 47-45.

Then, with 8.6 seconds left to play, Pitman fouled Landon Curtis, who made one of two tosses to make it 47-46.

Forced to foul, Turlock sent Pitman’s Jando Diaz to the stripe. He hit one of two free throws to make it 48-46.

Turlock called a timeout with 5.9 seconds to play to set up a final shot.

Moreno missed a pull-up three-point attempt, but Mustafa Noel-Johnson corralled the rebound and was fouled with three-tenths of a second remaining.

Two minutes earlier, Noel-Johnson hit a pair of free thows to pull the Bulldogs to within 42-41, but he missed the first and intentionally missed the second in hopes a teammate could tip it back in. However, the ball bounced into the hands of Pitman’s Chris Hanham, who chucked the ball into the air as a wild celebration erupted at midcourt.

“It’s always better to have the title to yourself,” said Noel-Johnson. “But this is still quite an accomplishment.”

At the outset of Wednesday’s game, it appeared Cornfoot would be able to sit back and enjoy the stress-free night at the office that Marable desired.

The Bulldogs jumped out to an 18-9 lead that they stretched to 21-9 when Will Hilgen snapped off a three-pointer that just beat the buzzer to end the first quarter. Ricky Heidelbach, who led all scorers with 19, tallied eight points in the opening stanza.

“We ran our sets, we were patient and got good shots,” said Cornfoot, whose team was 1-16 entering league play. “In the second quarter, we started taking quick shots and playing at their pace.”

Pitman outscored the Bulldogs 14-2 over the next eight minutes to tie the score 23-23 at halftime.

Diaz, who led the Pride with 15 points, said the win “feels great. It’s an amazing feeling being able to stamp yourself into the history of this school by winning the first CCC title.”

This story was originally published February 11, 2016 at 5:04 PM with the headline "Pitman holds off crosstown rival Turlock in boys basketball."