Boys Basketball: Trojans' Comeback Falls Short Against Salesian

 Salesian 63,  Castro Valley 61

The Star: Roderick Bobbitt scored 25 points to lead the Trojans.

The Turning Point: Castro Valley came out sluggish at the start of each half and the poor stretches were too much for the Trojans to overcome. 

The Quote: “We've got to come out and play hard from the start ... I don't know what happend today." — Roderick Bobbitt.

What's next? The Trojans head to Tennyson on Thursday before hosting Mt. Eden on Friday, but it's not too early to look to next Wednesday when Castro Valley will play Bishop O'Dowd at Chabot College.

Bottom Line: There were several stretches in which Salesian looked like it was ready to pull away, but the Trojans kept fighting back. Castro Valley trailed 60-49 with less than three minutes to go and was able to cut the deficit to 62-61 with 17 seconds left. It was too little, too late as a half-court heave from Bobbitt was off the mark as time expired.

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After the boys basketball team fell short in its comeback attempt against Salesian on Monday, coach Nick Jones' message was clear: the Trojans need to learn from the 63-61 loss against one of the state's top-ranked teams and get better from it.

"(Salesian is) one of the best D-IV teams in the state," he said. "They aren't in our league and they aren't in our section, so this one doesn't really matter. Are we mad we lost? Yes. Did we want to win? Yes. Hopefully this will be a nice tune-up for league and a nice playoff run. I think it will be."

Playing at Haas Pavilion at Cal in the 14th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Classic, the Trojans trailed 60-49 after Salesian's highly-touted sophomore Jabari Bird (21 points) hit a pair of free throws with three minutes, five seconds left.

It was one of several points in the game where Salesian looked ready to put the game to bed. 

It didn't happen.

Roderick Bobbitt (25 points) scored seven points down the stretch as Castro Valley stormed back. Bobbitt hit a big two with 26 seconds left to make it 62-60 Salesian and Dawson Johnson followed by hitting one of two from the free throw line with 17 seconds left to cut the deficit to 62-61.

"They kids played their butts off," Jones said. "We were just inconsistent."

The Trojans (14-2) caught a break when Salesian's Dominic Artis missed two free throws with eight seconds left, but Bird rebounded Artis' second miss to keep possession for the Pride (16-0). Bird missed on a put-back attempt and Juan Anderson grabbed the board. His outlet pass to Bobbitt was mishandled with 2.1 seconds left and the Trojans were forced to foul again.

Bird missed the first free throw, made the second before the Trojans inbounded to Bobbitt, whose potential game-winner from half court missed as time expired.

"We've got to come out and play hard from the start," Bobbitt said. "I don't know what happened today." 

The Pride jumped out to a 28-14 lead and looked ready to pull away early, but the Trojans closed the half on a 14-4 run to make it a four-point game at the half. 

But when the second half began, the Trojans reverted to their early-game form and trailed 49-37 through three quarters.

Anderson scored 20 points for Castro Valley, which will now turn its attention to Hayward Area Athletic League play. The Trojans travel to Tennyson on Thursday and host Mt. Eden on Friday with Bishop O'Dowd looming next week.

The Dragons, playing immediately following the Castro Valley-Salesian game, lost 86-86 to Sacramento in double overtime. Junior star Brandon Ashley fouled out in regulation and Anders Haas' half-court attempt with three seconds left was no good.