ORINDA, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 4: College students congratulate Miramonte’s Marcus Robinson (3) after defeating Northgate throughout their DAL Foothill Division boys varsity basketball sport at Miramonte Excessive College in Orinda, Calif., on Friday, Feb. 4, 2022. Miramonte defeated Northgate 46-44. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Space Information Group)
ORINDA – Miramonte outlasted visiting Northgate 46-44 on Friday in a boys basketball sport that might have North Coast Part Open Division implications.
Miramonte improved to 20-3 general and 7-2 within the Diablo Athletic League Foothill Division. Its solely two NCS losses are to Northgate on Jan. 18 and to 20-1 Campolindo, which Miramonte will face once more on Feb. 12.
“I’ve bought plenty of buddies chirping at me saying ‘Coach, you may be an Open staff,” Miramonte’s Chris Lavdiotis mentioned. “It’s like, ‘Hey, when you beat Campo and Northgate, you’re Open.’ It’s like, ‘Perhaps.’ I imply, there’s plenty of video games to play.
“Crucial factor is right here,” Lavdiotis added, pointing to his brow. “We beat one other highly-ranked staff who’s bought plenty of consideration in state. … I believe mentally it’s an enormous win as a result of we earned that win. We didn’t again our method into it. We didn’t play sloppy. We had been gritty.”
Northgate fell to 18-5 and 7-3 within the DAL Foothill Division. Its solely NCS losses are to Campolindo, Miramonte and Clayton Valley Constitution.
“Within the D-2 playoffs or in Open, we’ve bought to proceed to work,” Northgate coach Michael Shaughnessy mentioned. “We will’t enable a sport like this, a troublesome loss, to set us again.”
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Northgate needed to make its method again from two large runs on Friday.
“To start out the sport, they hit us with a haymaker, an 11-2 run,” Shaughnessy mentioned. “The second half, they got here out once more with one other run. That was the distinction within the sport, I believe.”
Holding a 21-20 benefit at halftime, Miramonte went on a 12-3 run to start out the second half. A basket by the Matadors’ Tyler Dutto gave his staff a 37-25 lead with 2 minutes, 23 seconds left within the third quarter, however Northgate had a 10-0 run of its personal to finish the quarter.
The fourth quarter was tight. With 2:32 remaining, Miramonte’s Marcus Robinson sank his second 3-pointer of the interval for a 45-42 Matadors benefit.
“I hit the primary one, and I felt the second coming, back-to-back,” the 6-foot-2 Robinson mentioned concerning the pictures from past the arc, which occurred on two straight possessions. “It felt actually good.”
Dutto related on 1 of two free throws 30 seconds later for a four-point Miramonte benefit.
A steal and layup by Northgate’s Thayne Merrill reduce the result in 46-44 with 58 seconds left, however these would show to be the final factors of the sport.
Northgate was in a position to get a final shot within the ultimate seconds, however the three-point try from the best facet of the frontcourt bounced off the again rim.
James Frye scored a game-high 13 factors for Miramonte, and Robinson added 12, all on three-pointers. He additionally had three assists and three steals. Caden Breznikar had 10 factors for the Matadors.
Merrill had a team-high 12 factors for Northgate, and teammate Dylan Golan added 10. 
