Serra Wins Jungle Thriller in OT
A late game-tying basket in regulation and a run to close overtime keyed the wild victory.
“The Run” doesn’t quite have the same ring to it as “The Shot,” “The Drive” or “The Catch.”
So Serra’s 71-68 overtime win over St. Ignatius in the Jungle Game might not be remembered by name, or by one specific play.
But it should be hailed as one of the best affairs in the rivalry’s history, from Andrew McDowell’s game-tying drive with 2.8 seconds left in regulation to the Padres’ decisive 8-0 run to close the game.
Serra (13-4, 5-2 WCAL) has now won five straight meetings with the Wildcats, and has won five of the last six meetings at home. The only home loss to SI since 2018 came in the 2021 COVID season, which lacked the typical jam-packed crowd the Jungle Game is known for.
Tuesday night’s affair had all that and more, with fans struggling to find seats during the JV game. The host Padres rode the momentum from the crowd to an early double-digit lead, but trailed late and needed the help of missed free throws and McDowell’s drive to send the game to an extra period.
In overtime, St. Ignatius (13-4, 4-3) led 68-63 after two Theo Lamb free throws with 1:55 left, but never scored again. Fordham commit Ryan Pettis’ four-point play cut the lead to one and fouled Steele Labagh, who had caught fire for the Wildcats down the stretch, out of the game. Mikey Ballout’s third-chance putback with 37.2 left gave the Padres the lead, and after Lamb missed two free throws with 15.1 to go, Ballout made two with 12.8 left. An off-balance SI 3-point attempt just before the buzzer missed, sealing the Serra victory.
“This is one I’ll remember,” said Padres head coach Chuck Rapp, whose Jungle Game record improved to 18-3. “It wasn’t pretty, but we willed ourselves to victory and played with the heart of a champion.”
The hosts raced out to an early 10-0 lead and never trailed until Labagh’s 3-pointer with 28.8 left in the fourth quarter. Alex Naber had two free throws to tie with 9.3 left, but missed the first, forcing Rapp to play the foul game. Labagh made two with 8.9 left to put the Wildcats up 61-58, and SI coach Jason Greenfield instructed his team to foul rather than give Serra a chance to tie. However, the ‘Cats gave that foul sooner than he would have liked.
“That was bad execution. Three guys on Pettis and we hammer him out of bounds,” Greenfield said. “He’s not really a threat to score falling out of bounds, is he?”
Pettis was, however, a threat to score from the line. He scored a team-high 20 points and was a perfect 8-for-8 on free throws, and his team trailed 61-60 with 7.7 left after his two shots. Marcus Bast was then fouled with 7.0 left, and he missed the first of his two attempts, meaning the Wildcats couldn’t foul again in the aftermath.
When he made the second, Pettis drove upcourt, avoided a steal and found McDowell, who drove from the left wing and scored the game-tying layup. Vince Crisp’s half-court shot fell short, sending the game to overtime.
Pettis started the game hot as the Padres jumped out to a 16-4 lead and led 18-11 after a quarter, fueled by a 12-5 rebounding advantage. For the game, Serra won the “battle of the boards,” as Rapp sometimes calls it, 46-32.
Raymond Whitley scored nine of his game-high 21 points in the second quarter, including a three-point play to tie the game at 30 with 51.4 left in the first half, but Serra took a 32-30 lead into the locker room after McDowell’s baseline pull-up. The Wildcats evened the score at 32 on Lamb’s basket 38 seconds into the third quarter, but didn’t score from the field for nearly the next seven minutes as the Padres went back in front on a Ballout 3-pointer that kicked off a 7-0 run.
“Mikey’s a tremendous player and amazing teammate,” said Pettis. “He knows when to step up. He’s most likely gonna go D-1. I can see that.”
Ballout had played a vital role during the four games Pettis missed to concussion symptoms, averaging 13 points per game in his absence. With Pettis back, he hasn’t reverted into a secondary role.
“When he was gone, we had 20 points for the rest of our team to grab,” Ballout said. “I think I learned a lot from that. Everyone on our team took a little bit of accountability.”
The junior guard’s 19 points marked a new career high. McDowell finished with 12, while Naber had 11 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. Naber, who transferred from SI to Serra before his junior year, scored four in a two-second span late in the third quarter when he drove to the basket, drew a foul on a layup, missed the free throw but ended up scoring off the rebound to put the Padres up 43-35.
Naber and Ballout hit back-to-back threes to give Serra a 51-41 lead with 6:17 left, but the Wildcats countered with a 10-0 run, tying the game on a Bast 3-pointer with 3:06 to go.
“That was an old-school WCAL battle,” Rapp said. “Door-to-door, trading paint for 32, no, 36 minutes. Give a lot of credit to SI. They played real physical.”
McDowell and Labagh traded threes to tie the game at 54, and Pettis put Serra back in front on a three-point play with 1:39 to go. Whitley, who also had a team-high eight rebounds, scored on a drive to make it 57-56 with 1:28 left, and though Chris Philpott blocked a potential go-ahead layup, SI got a fresh chance after McDowell was ruled to have stepped out of bounds in the corner with 49.6 on the clock. Labagh, who scored eight of his 15 points in the fourth quarter and five in the final 30 seconds of regulation, converted from the corner on the ensuing possession, nearly becoming the hero.
But between the missed free throws and inability to run plays, the Wildcats couldn’t seal the deal.
“I discount the free throws, what I care about is execution,” Greenfield said. “We didn’t execute offensively or defensively down the stretch. We didn’t run our last play and made a bunch of errors late that gave away that game.”
The loss puts the Wildcats in fourth place at the halfway point of WCAL play, and it marks their first back-to-back losses on the season. It won’t get any easier on Thursday when they host the league-leading Riordan Crusaders.
“We need to play loose,” Greenfield said. “Love the effort, just crushed about the execution.”
Bast scored seven of his 10 points in the fourth quarter, while Crisp and Lamb each finished with eight.
Starting center Angelo Ghattas gave Serra nine points and eight rebounds before fouling out with 3:31 left in regulation, giving way to Philpott. While the junior didn’t score, his blocks with a minute left in the fourth quarter and with 1:20 left in overtime may have won the Padres the game.
“He learned a lot from when Angelo was out,” Ballout said, referring to Philpott’s starts in wins over Bellarmine and St. Francis. “Angelo got in foul trouble and Chris came in and made some huge blocks that basically won us the game.”
Riordan 71, Sacred Heart Cathedral 49
In a game twice delayed by scoreboard issues, Riordan (13-4, 7-0 WCAL) pulled away with a 19-7 fourth quarter to win their 12th consecutive league meeting over the Fightin’ Irish, though SHC did beat the Crusaders last February in the CCS Open Division. The Crusaders also outscored the hosts 15-5 in the second quarter to take a 30-22 halftime lead. Jasir Rencher led the visitors with 17 points, Zion Sensley scored 16 and Andrew Hilman threatened to post a triple-double, finishing with 11 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds. Fed Pernell scored a game-high 21 for Sacred Heart Cathedral (9-8, 2-5), Jonah Goorin scored 11 and Jack Kennedy added nine.
Bellarmine 64, St. Francis 54
Will Corbett scored 25 points and Nick Corbett had 16 points and seven rebounds as the Bells won a fourth straight meeting over St. Francis (3-14, 1-6 WCAL). Bellarmine (7-10, 2-5) used a 20-7 second quarter to take a commanding 36-17 halftime lead. Sophomore Maxx Ladd led the Lancers with 15 points, Chris Verceles scored 12 and sophomore Evan Lee added nine.
Mitty 83, Valley Christian 61
Tyler Jones scored 16 points and Caeden Hutcherson scored 15 off the bench as Mitty (12-5, 6-1 WCAL) beat Valley Christian (9-8, 1-6) for the 43rd time in a row. The Monarchs also got 14 points apiece from Grayson Jalal and Gavin Ripp. Tzahari Trevino scored a game-high 18 for the Warriors, while Nate Kinsella added 11.