After 56 fouls, about 20 traveling violations and enough bricks to build a new gym, Bishop Diego’s boys basketball team came out on top against rival Carpinteria in front of a rowdy crowd at the Brickhouse Wednesday, 53-41.
Ben Kwock poured in 20 points for the Cardinals, who outscored the Warriors 24-11 in the fourth quarter.
“It’s the Carp-Bishop rivalry. It’s gonna be ugly and it’s gonna be brutal. We said that in the beginning, and we just knew,” said Kwock.
It was a key performance for Kwock, as leading-scorer Elias Muñoz committed a technical foul midway through the third quarter and, via school policy, had to sit out the rest of the game. Carpinteria’s Trevor Madden received a technical late in the game with emotions running high. The rival student sections were at full volume throughout the game, and the environment certainly seemed to play a factor in the missed lay-ups and turnovers on both sides.
“All the emotion and all the nerves, I mean even I was nervous before this game,” said Carpinteria coach Johnny Ward. “It all plays a factor, and it’s hard to slow yourself down with so much adrenaline running through your body.”
Ward had every reason to be a bit nervous. His late father, John, was Bishop Diego’s coach for many years before ending up with the same position at Carpinteria. Johnny decided to stay at Bishop, where he played against his dad in the rivalry game.
“I was real nervous, just like when I played against him. But once the game started it felt natural, and I was ready to go and ready to fight for Carpinteria,” he said.
The connections in the rivalry were all over the gym, as Kwock’s own girlfriend goes to Carpinteria.
“Obviously I know she was true to her school, but as long as she was rooting for me I was happy,” he said.
Trevor Madden and Myles Menegon each had 11 points to lead the Warriors (11-7, 2-2 Frontier League). Madden hit a free throw that tied the game at 10-10 after one quarter of play, and Menegon scored Carpinteria’s first five points in the second quarter as the visitors took their biggest lead at 17-12 with 6:24 left in the half.
The Cardinals (12-7, 3-1 Frontier League) tied the score at 20-20 on a lay-up by Reese Moulton off of a beautiful give-and-go play with two minutes left. A jumper by Paul Garcia eventually sent Bishop into the locker room up 22-21.
Bishop opened the second half with an alley-oop from Muñoz to Kwock (it ended with a lay-up, not a dunk), and the senior also hit a trey in the period, but the Warriors stayed close as Menegon scored five points in the final 3:00 of the quarter. A nice lob pass to Madden off of an inbounds pass put the visitors up 30-29 to start the fourth quarter, but Nolan Tisdale and Johnny Diaz hit big 3-pointers to start Bishop’s stretch run. Diaz also had five steals and eight rebounds in the contest.
Each team committed 28 fouls on the night, as Carpinteria had to intentionally foul in the final stretch to send Bishop to the line and hope for some misses. The Cardinals, however, went 16-for-24 from the charity stripe in the quarter to hold on for the victory.
BISHOP DIEGO 53, CARPINTERIA 41
CARPINTERIA — Madden 11, Aguilar 7, Menegon 11, Arellano 2, Trujillo 5, Sova 4, Robinson 1. 17-29 FT.
BISHOP DIEGO — Kwock 20, Tack 8, Tisdale 3, Diaz 3, Shull 2, Garcia 3, Poindexter 4, Helkey 2, Muñoz 2, Moulton 6. 25-37 FT.
Carpinteria…10 11 7 11 — 41
Bishop Diego…10 12 7 24 — 53
3-point goals — C 2 (Madden, Trujillo), BD 4 (Kwock 2, Tisdale, Diaz). Total fouls — C 28, BD 28. Technicals — C Madden, BD Muñoz.
Heard Carp fans didn’t have that strong of a showing….hopefully we can get more at our place. (A gym with 2 sets of stands and no stage)