Oakland Tech Wins Yet Another Thriller Over Oakland, This Time at Buzzer

In a series of terrific battles between two OAL rivals, this one may have been the most thrilling.

There was never any doubt who was taking the final shot for Oakland Tech.

It simply had to be ArDarius Grayson. And even though he didn’t get the shot that he or his coaches wanted, it worked.

The junior guard leaned into a double team and sank a contested 3-pointer as time expired to give the Bulldogs a 63-60 win over the Oakland Wildcats and clinch the outright OAL regular season title.

“I just threw it up,” said Grayson, who led all players with 27 points and seven assists. “As soon as I shot it, I knew it was going in.”

It was far from the Bulldogs’ prettiest performance of the season. Oakland Tech (23-5, 10-0 OAL) committed no less than eight traveling violations, missed four free throws that could have broken the game open late in the third quarter and conceded an 8-0 run to give the visiting Wildcats a 60-56 lead on Isaac Johnson’s free throw with 2:08 to go.

But Asher Kramer scored on a drive with 1:16 left, Oakland (21-7, 8-2) missed two free throws with 57 seconds on the clock and Grayson hit a fadeaway jumper in the lane with 41 seconds left to tie the game. The Wildcats couldn’t finish at the rim on the following possession, and after a timeout, Grayson fumbled the ball, regained control and hit the decisive shot.

“It was a great shot,” Oakland head coach Orlando Watkins said. “When you come into Tech’s house, you gotta win. They’re not gonna give you the game. They took it.”

Despite playing from behind for most of the second half, Watkins’ Wildcats had their share of chances to win, but shot 19-of-35 at the line, with no misses more critical than the two with 57 seconds left and a 60-58 lead.

Those missed free throws were the lone blemish on what was otherwise a phenomenal fourth quarter for backup guard Rohm Neal, who scored six of his seven points in the final eight minutes. His basket with 4:35 left cut Oakland Tech’s lead to one, and he scored again after a deep Grayson 3-pointer gave the Bulldogs a 56-52 lead with 3:57 left. After Anthony Lacy gave the visitors a 57-56 lead on a three-point play with 2:47 left, Neal scored his final points off a steal to give the Wildcats a three-point lead.

“He’s a real good player, and he’s only a sophomore,” Watkins said. “He’s only gonna get better with time. Right now, though, there’s little things in his game that we’re trying to fine-tune.”

Had Oakland held on, Neal and Lacy, who had 21 points and a game-high 15 rebounds, would have been the heroes. But the glory went to Grayson and Kramer.

Kramer, playing his final regular season home game, finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists. His 3-pointer in the second quarter was part of a 14-4 run that helped the Bulldogs erase an early nine-point deficit, and he scored another seven in the third quarter to help the hosts take a 47-37 lead.

“He’s had big moments in these games, and he knows what it’s all about. He’s never worried about his numbers. He just plays hard. He’s a model Oakland Tech player, and he’s a winner,” head coach Karega Hart said of Kramer, who he’s had on the varsity roster for three years. “We want a team full of Asher Kramers.”

Oakland did close the third on a 7-2 run after falling behind by 10 on Grayson’s steal and dunk, but Grayson kept the Bulldogs on top for most of the final term. He answered a Lacy basket to put Oakland Tech up 51-46, scored on a drive to make it 53-50 and nailed the deep three off a Chase Millheim assist to put the hosts ahead by four just after the halfway mark of the quarter. Yet none of those shots buried the Wildcats.

“They’re a good team. Really scrappy,” Grayson said of his competition. “Really good defense, and they get out in transition really well.”

Despite the thrilling finish, Hart was surprisingly nonchalant following the game.

“We want the last win of the season,” he said. “It’s fun for everyone who comes out to watch these games. It’s important that I ground our guys and keep us laser-focused.”

Oakland Tech was in a similar position last year, and even beat the Wildcats a third time in the OAL Championship, but ultimately fell 90-73 in a fourth meeting, the Northern California Division III Championship.

In the bigger picture, all Grayson’s shot does is give the Bulldogs the top seed in next week’s playoffs and a matchup against either Fremont or one of the teams out of the OAL’s charter school division. While the OAL does get two state tournament bids despite being California’s smallest section, there’s no chance for an at-large bid for a team that loses a semifinal.

“It means nothing if we don’t win the next one,” Hart commented. “Our most important game of the season is the one that’s right in front of us.”

A potential third meeting between the Bulldogs and Wildcats would be next Saturday. Should the teams meet again, it’ll be a chance for redemption for an Oakland team that includes a pair of Pinole Valley transfers that weren’t a part of last year’s run in Johnson, who scored nine points on Wednesday, and Jonathan Chapple, who finished with 14.

Despite battling foul trouble, Oakland Tech’s 6-foot-7 junior center, Xan Meyer-Plettner, had nine points and 10 rebounds.