The Hillsdale Knights charged into battle on Thursday night hoping to defeat Carlmont boys varsity basketball, only to be defeated 60-42 in a non-league joust.
Hillsdale took the first lead of the game, scoring a 3-pointer on their first possession. The Carlmont Scots, however, immediately rallied back as Lajuan Nelson, a senior, scored two points on a foul.
The Knights scored soon after but Nelson silenced their lead by making a 3-point field goal to tie it up 5-5. A layup by Nelson followed by a 3-pointer from Sho Takahashi, a senior, allowed the Scots to take a 5-point lead over Hillsdale.
After a 2-point shot from the Knights, a three from Nelson would bring the score to 13-7. This led up to a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Abram Guldbech, a junior, and allowed the Scots to take a 9-point lead over Hillsdale in the first quarter.
“We had stuck around and watched Hillsdale play [Palo Alto] two days prior and they got down a lot against them, but they never gave up and kept fighting. We knew that was how their team operated so we were going 0-0 ballgame the whole time,” David Bedrosian, a senior and shooting guard for Carlmont, said.
The second quarter started out strong for the Scots, as Guldbech made back-to-back 3-pointers with an additional 3-pointer from Nelson.
Carlmont’s defensive side was working hard as well, only allowing Hillsdale to score once during the 9-point gain for the Scots. The score was 25-12 as Samuel Bean, a senior, sank another basket, which pushed the score to 28-12.
Hillsdale lightly pushed back, scoring four points after the volley of threes scored by Carlmont.
Bedrosian kept up, however, shooting a three and making way for a layup from Nelson, allowing the Scots to push their lead to 17 points.
Two sets of back-to-back free throws, one from Hillsdale and the other from Carlmont, closed out the first half with the score at 35-17.
“We know better than to think we have a game won at halftime, no matter how big our lead is. Last year we blew a 30-10 halftime lead. We have an underdog mindset and we make sure to bring more energy than our opponent, mostly coming from the defensive end. Our bench has been doing a great job at keeping the energy up,” Bean said.
As the third quarter got underway, Takahashi didn’t hesitate to get the Carlmont offense started, scoring twice to push the Scot’s lead to 20 points.
When a strong block by Benjamin Ledwith, a senior, failed to give the Scots possession of the ball, the Knights took advantage. They ended up shooting both a three and later a 2-pointer. Takahashi then forced a breakaway and scored again, but with the score now at 41-25.
Free throws from both Nelson and Grant Acker, as well as a layup from Guldbech, advanced the score to 45-27.
The third quarter would come to a close as Ledwith shot free throws to push the score to 46-29.
“[Hillsdale] started overplaying a lot to push us off the 3-point line and that allowed us to drive to the basket more. It’s just how their defense shifted to try and get steals and come back,” Bedrosian said.
The fourth quarter saw a rally from Hillsdale, but Carlmont continued to play hard and prevented the Knights from tightening the gap by more than 15 points at any given time.
A 3-pointer and a two from Bedrosian, two points from Bean, a layup from Nelson, and a free throw by Jake Kennedy advanced the Carlmont lead to 16 points. Hillsdale would add a few points but wouldn’t come close to defeating the Scots. By the time the whistle blew, the Scots were ahead 60-42.
The Scots had expanded their record to 2-1 and are excited to get on with the rest of their season.
“Our future depends on how well we handle our mental toughness along with complacency. We could advance farther and win more than any Carlmont boys team in the school’s history or just be a talented team that never really reached their potential. The sky’s the limit,” Head Coach Ron Ozorio said.
