The boys basketball team fell to the Archbishop Mitty Monarchs 47-45 on Monday night. After a rough first half, the Bears’ strong second-half comeback efforts proved futile.
Despite Mitty winning the tip-off and scoring an early three-pointer, senior center Aiden Atkins responded quickly with a field goal of his own.
The game started with exceptionally fast ball movement and relentless defense from both teams. Numerous fouls and free throws ended the quarter with the Bears down 7-6.
M-A regrouped and managed to start the second quarter hot with a swift three from senior small forward Jerry Williams. However, Mitty’s intense offense wasn’t going away easily, and a multiplayer scramble ended with the Monarchs getting a layup and a free throw. Amid back-and-forth fouling, Mitty’s smothering defensive pressure led to several steals and fast breaks, widening their lead to 19-14.
Even though the Bears were holding their own against a towering 7’0” Mitty center on the boards, M-A had a hard time working around the Monarchs’ strong defense. A flurry of Mitty field goals ended the half with the Bears behind 21-14.
Refusing to let the Monarchs continue their hot streak into the third quarter, Williams made two free throws to begin a run of offensive dominance. Back-to-back threes from Williams and senior shooting guard Luca Auer, paired with a midrange jumper from Williams, cut M-A’s deficit down to 28-26.
The Bears continued to apply pressure on both ends of the court, which included an impressive block of a Mitty dunk attempt. However, with 4:30 left in the quarter, senior center Will Abdella committed his fourth foul, which forced him to sit and left M-A with slim options to combat Mitty’s center.
The Bears found most of their success by driving to the rim. Auer ended the quarter by weaving through traffic for a layup, leaving M-A trailing 34-32.
Tensions were high entering the fourth quarter, but the Bears stayed composed and kicked things off with a bang. During a fast break, senior shooting guard Bryce Winters fired a pass over to Atkins, who threw down a spectacular dunk. To gain even more momentum, Auer intercepted Mitty’s pass and lobbed it to Atkins on the far end, who finished a layup to give the Bears their first lead of the game, 36-34.
More clumsy turnovers from Mitty allowed Williams and senior point guard Jacob Sutton to widen the lead with clean three-pointers. Despite M-A’s suffocating defense, Mitty stayed dominant on the glass, scoring jumper after jumper to tie the score at 45-45.
With one minute left, M-A fumbled with a kicked ball, turning over the possession and allowing Mitty to cash in two more points. Unable to find a response, the Bears traveled, handing the ball to Mitty with only 30 seconds remaining. However, Mitty quickly turned the ball back over, with only six seconds left in the game.
Looking for a final scoring opportunity, M-A called their second-to-last timeout in an attempt to combat their two-point deficit. Auer inbounded the ball quickly to Sutton, who went in for a drive but was blocked with less than a second remaining. With the ball on the baseline and one final opportunity to score, M-A called their final timeout.
In a heartbreaking last play, time ran out before the Bears’ final shot was put up, cementing a 47-45 loss.
“We got out there and tried our hardest,” Williams said. “Mitty is slightly overrated, quite beatable next time.”
The Bears will take the fight to Valley Christian away on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
