SAN JOSE — When you’re going to make one shot in a sport, may as effectively make it a game-winner.
Sophomore Isaac Turner nailed a 3-pointer from the nook as time expired Tuesday, giving Archbishop Mitty a 56-54 win over Valley Christian in a West Catholic Athletic League opener.
“Every time we go hard in practice our coaches say, `You play hard and hustle, your shots are going to fall.’ And the shot fell at the right time,” Turner stated.
“He’s a big-time player and that was a big-time shot right there,” Mitty coach Tim Kennedy stated.
Archbishop Mitty’s Isaac Turner (13) shoots the game-winning 3-point basket to win 56-54 towards Valley Christian’s Justin Hampton (1) at Archbishop Mitty in San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Space Information Group)
Turner’s shot offered an ending to a high-energy battle with a number of swings of momentum. Mitty’s stress protection was a decisive issue at each the start and on the conclusion of the sport.
The Monarchs pressured six first-quarter turnovers and had a 15-7 lead shortly earlier than the top of the quarter.
The second quarter was a completely completely different story. Valley Christian hit its first 5 pictures, made 9 of 14 within the quarter and blitzed Mitty to a 25-6 tune, taking a 34-21 lead on the break. The Warriors closed the half on a 14-0 run with Bellarmine switch Brayden Harris scoring the ultimate 11 factors.
“Brayden’s an elite scorer,” Valley Christian coach Colin Pfaff stated. “He can score off the bounce, he can catch and shoot, he can score from mid-range. When he gets hot it’s get out of the way and let him stay in that zone.”
Valley Christian’s Brayden Harris (24) takes a shot towards Archbishop Mitty within the third quarter at Archbishop Mitty in San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Space Information Group)
Valley was nonetheless up by 13 late within the third quarter earlier than Mitty went on an 8-0 run to make it 43-38 heading to the fourth. 5 of these factors have been scored by Grayson Jalal, who completed with a game-high 24 factors.
A Justin Hampton 3-pointer put Valley up 49-40 halfway by the fourth quarter. Jalal responded with a 3 after which Kennedy referred to as for a full-court trap-press that turned the sport round, contributing to 5 Valley Christian turnovers over the ultimate three minutes.
Jalal’s 3 made it 49-43 and his putback reduce Mitty’s deficit to 2 at 51-49. His two free throws with 26 seconds left gave Mitty its first lead for the reason that second quarter, 53-52.
Archbishop Mitty’s Grayson Jalal (2) dribbles towards Valley Christian’s Hudson Dennison (3) within the first quarter at Archbishop Mitty in San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Space Information Group)
Harris was fouled with 9 seconds to go and made each pictures to place Valley again up by one. The Warriors took their closing non-shooting foul with 5.7 seconds left. Mitty then in-bounded to Jalal who was double-teamed, however by some means received the ball by a forest thicket of arms alongside the baseline to Turner within the reverse nook.
“I don’t know what happened,” Jalal stated. “I just grabbed that thing, went baseline and trusted my teammate. And the ball went in.”
The sport was a coming-out occasion for Jalal, a 6-5 senior who, along with helping on the game-winner, scored 16 of his staff’s closing 26 factors.
“That’s a senior making senior plays, laying it out there,” Kennedy stated. “He’s had some good games but he hasn’t put it all together. Today he really put it together on both ends of the floor.”
Caeden Hutcherson added 15 factors for Mitty (8-3, 1-0).
Valley Christian (9-2, 0-1) got here tantalizingly near ending a protracted dropping streak towards Mitty. The final time the Warriors defeated the Monarchs was on Jan. 10, 2006. Mitty has gained the final 45 in a row within the sequence.
“I told the guys they beat us by 20-plus points the last two years at Mitty,” Pfaff stated. “For us to have a one-point lead on the final possession, I think that’s a major step. Now we have to close it out. That’s the next step and we’re really close. First and fourth quarters we got rattled a little bit, turned the ball over a lot. If we learn from that I think we can take the next step. I’m confident we can do it, we’ve got good players, we’ve got smart players, coachable. So as disappointed I am with the loss, there’s a part of me that’s super encouraged about the progress.”
Harris scored 14 and Hampton had 11 for Valley.
And many others.:
In different WCAL openers, St. Ignatius beat Serra 57-43, Bellarmine needed to dangle on to high St. Francis 55-52 and No. 1 ranked Riordan blew out Sacred Coronary heart Cathedral, 75-26.
Archbishop Mitty’s Isaac Turner (13) is congratulated by Archbishop Mitty’s Grayson Jalal (2) after hitting the game-winning 3-point basket to win 56-54 towards Valley Christian at Archbishop Mitty in San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Space Information Group) 
Archbishop Mitty’s Grayson Jalal (2) dribbles towards Valley Christian’s Jadon Shabaglian (12) within the second quarter at Archbishop Mitty in San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Space Information Group) 
Archbishop Mitty’s Caeden Hutcherson (5) is fouled by Valley Christian’s Jadon Shabaglian (12) within the second quarter at Archbishop Mitty in San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Space Information Group) 
Archbishop Mitty’s Caeden Hutcherson (5) celebrates his 3-point basket towards Valley Christian within the second quarter at Archbishop Mitty in San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Space Information Group) 
Valley Christian boys basketball head coach Colin Pfaff high-fives Valley Christian’s Brayden Harris (24) earlier than their sport towards Archbishop Mitty at Archbishop Mitty in San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Space Information Group) 
Archbishop Mitty boys basketball head coach Tim Kennedy talks to Archbishop Mitty’s Caeden Hutcherson (5) throughout their sport towards Valley Christian within the third quarter at Archbishop Mitty in San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Space Information Group)
