Bishop Diego suffered a bad break on an official’s call late in the game and it proved critical in a 52-47 loss to Templeton at the Valley Christian Academy girls basketball tournament in Santa Maria on Wednesday.
Down by one with seven seconds to go, the Cardinals needed to foul to stop the clock and get the ball back. They committed the foul, but the official ruled it a flagrant foul and Templeton was awarded two free throws and possession of the ball.
“It was a bad call,” Bishop coach Jeff Burich said.
Luckily for the Cardinals, Templeton missed both free throws. But they had to foul again.
This time, Templeton made the first free throw and missed the second, but got the offensive rebound to keep the Cardinals at bay.
“That flagrant foul kind of hurt us,” Burich said.
The Cardinals got solid games from Essence Thornhill, who scored 16 points, and Kelsey Stimson, who scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
Bishop next played Campbell Hall, the No. 2-ranked team in CIF Division 5-AA, and battled hard before falling 71-58.
“We played well,” Burich said. “I don’t know if any team in the tournament will come as close as we did.”
Thornhill scored 16 points and Josie McCoy “played her best game at the varsity level with 12 points,” said Burich.
He also praised the play of Stimson, who had seven points, 10 rebounds and five assists.
The Cardinals (7-5) close out the tournament against crosstown rival Carpinteria at 3 p.m. on Thursday.
