From out-bracket to overtime: Pitman boys edge rival Turlock in basketball thriller

Dom Von Waaden closed his eyes, drowning out the crowd and the overwhelming circumstances.

The Pitman High School sophomore stepped to the free-throw line with the season in the balance. The Central California Conference co-champion clung to a slim lead over Turlock, which had already proven no hole was too deep.

As the moment threatened to consume him, Von Waaden slowed his heart rate, bounced at the knees and let muscle memory take over.

All season long, Pitman coach Harvey Marable has closed practice with wobbly-legged, sweat-in-your-eyes free throws for moments just like this. Von Waaden knocked down 5 of 6 in the final 30 seconds of overtime, sealing the Pride’s 72-69 victory in a rare Sac-Joaquin Section out-bracket game between rivals.

“I knew I could knock them down,” said Von Waaden, who tallied seven of his nine points in the second half. “I was confident I could do it, even after I missed the first one.”

The Bulldogs (9-19) had a chance to send the game to a second overtime, but Oscar Moreno’s pass never found its intended target – sniper Will Hilgen, whose three-point barrage helped Turlock erase a 26-point deficit.

Gurman Takhar stepped in front of the pass, triggering a wild on-court celebration.

Pitman (16-8) won the season series with Turlock by protecting its home floor. The Pride defeated the Bulldogs 48-46 on Feb. 10 to earn a share of the conference title and the No. 1 playoff seed. While the out-bracket match-up raised eyebrows in the southern half of the section – and ruffled feathers in the city of Turlock – Marable took it all in stride.

In his mind, the section selection committee could do nothing to undermine an otherwise historic season along West Christoffersen Parkway. Even a playoff game on Mars would have sounded appealing to Marable.

“This is a season of firsts for us,” he said. “We were undefeated at home this year. We are undefeated in the playoffs when we play at home. The school got their first CCC (banner). So I didn’t care who we played. I was already happy that I had the opportunity to sit here and watch these things develop for us.”

The Pride built a 26-point halftime lead and then gave it all back, sending mixed signals to the Folsom High scout in attendance. The Pride will face Folsom, the No. 1 seed in Division I, on Wednesday.

“Now, we go to the big dog,” Marable said with a chuckle. “... Let’s see how far we can go and how much we can do against one of the top teams in the state. Whatever happens, happens. We have nothing to lose.”

The Pride led 41-15 at the half, thanks to a 23-1 spurt to start the second quarter. Pitman couldn’t miss – three-pointers nor free throws. Isaiah Marable drained two triples, and Pitman went 8 for 8 from the free-throw line. Seven players scored in the period for the Pride.

Turlock went nearly eight minutes between field goals and had just as many turnovers (four) as points (four) in the second quarter.

“As a player, you could say we were in the zone,” said senior point guard Jando Diaz, who scored 11 of his game-high 23 points in the first half. “It felt good. We know we could do that at all times.

“The second half, we sped up a little bit, but in the first half, we knew what we had to do. We executed, as our coach always says.”

The Dogs still had some fight left in them, though. Turlock trimmed the deficit to 50-36 after three quarters, seizing momentum with an 8-1 run to close the quarter.

“They have no 20-point shots in the game,” Turlock coach Doug Cornfoot said. “So we talked about getting it to 12 or 14 at the end of third quarter and then we’ll see what happens.”

After that, Hilgen did this thing. The diminutive shooting guard began the fourth with consecutive three-pointers, fueling a 17-2 blitz. He finished with 16 points, 14 over the final 12 minutes.

Pitman was coming apart at the seams. The Pride was assessed a technical after committing a shooting foul, allowing Turlock’s Habib Velasquez to score four points with the clock stopped.

Moments later, Ricky Heidelbach gave Turlock its first lead since 2-0 with a putback, 53-52.

Velasquez paced the Bulldogs with 18 points, but the senior forward fouled out late in the fourth. Heidelbach finished with 13, while Moreno rounded out a balanced attack with 12.

“Because they’re young, they thought this was over,” Marable said. “I’m an old man, and I know there’s too much fight in the Bulldogs.”

Diaz scored the final five points of regulation for the Pride to push the game into overtime. His corner three-pointer gave Pitman a 56-55 lead with 2:32 left, and then he tied the score at 58 with a floater in the lane with 27 seconds to go.

Again, Turlock had the final shot, but the play never materialized. Heidelbach squeezed into the lane – splitting the defense – but had the ball knocked from his hands before he could release a shot.

“When you have the ball with the game on the line ... that was a terrible possession,” Cornfoot said. “And then in overtime we missed three or four layups and they hit some shots. Give them credit.”

The Pride controlled the extra session from the outset. Isaiah Marable (13 points) and Takhar knocked down back-to-back three-pointers to give Pitman the lead for good, 64-61, and then Von Waaden sealed it.

“I told him, ‘Just calm down. I know you got it,’ ” Diaz said of his instruction for the underclassman. “He knocked them down, and we came out on top.”

This story was originally published February 20, 2016 at 12:17 AM with the headline "From out-bracket to overtime: Pitman boys edge rival Turlock in basketball thriller."