For three quarters, Sobrato went toe-to-toe with Oak Grove and held a two-point lead going to the final frame.
But the Bulldogs weren’t able to hang on against the Eagles, being outscored 14-6 to lose 52-46 in the semi finals of the BVAL Tournament at Independence.
“We just had a hard time with second chance points; we lost that battle today,” said coach Lee Washington. “I think they outscored us by eight points with second chance points and a six-point difference in the game. It would have been nice if we could have knocked down a little bit more free throws, but it ultimately came down to just a couple of things.”
Karl Mann led the Bulldogs with 10 points and 14 rebounds, but he wasn’t able to match Josh Bongers’ 21 and 12.
Sobrato had evenly distributed shooting for the night, with eight players getting in the scoring column.
For three quarters, it worked as Sobrato was able to keep the Eagles at bay, never going down by more than two at any point.
But the Bulldogs were never able to pull away, holding no more than a three-point lead at any one time.
“I’m proud of them because they know we match up well basically with a lot of other teams whether they’re A league or B league, it doesn’t matter what they are,” Washington said. “These guys knew all we needed to get was four wins and we were just a couple plays away from getting to the championship.”
Turnovers in the third and fourth allowed Oak Grove to keep the game close and ultimately build a lead that Sobrato couldn’t overcome.
The Bulldogs had a chance to make it a two-possession game at the end of the third when Jason Rhoads forced a turnover with 21 seconds left and Sobrato leading by two.
But Oak Grove’s defense forced a stop that allowed the Eagles to make a run in the fourth.
Harace Bangah took over the last quarter, scoring eight of his 16 points including a triple to open the quarter.
Max Mosgrove hit a jumper to put Sobrato back up by one for the Bulldogs’ last lead of the game.
Mann hit a layup later in the frame to pull Sobrato back to within three, but it was the last points before Tim Givens made a jumper as time expired.
With the loss, Sobrato does get the benefit of getting a breather before CCS starts next week.
“Resting up and getting ready for Sunday and see where we’re at,” Washington said.
Sobrato will learn its fate at 9 a.m. Sunday.
