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With a No. 2 seed, Campolindo drew a bye in the first round and then defeated Sacred Heart Cathedral 79-65 on March 14 to advance to the NorCal semifinal against Sierra (Manteca) on March 17.
The Cougars took their first lead 12-11 in the game behind senior Chris Hansen's put back with 3:18 to go in the first. Campo ended the period on an 8-0 run highlighted by senior Tiger Garcia's put back with one second left.
Campo led 39-29 at intermission. The Cougars built a 54-40 lead at the end of three. Sierra rallied in the fourth quarter.
With 4:03 to go in the game, Hansen fouled out. Campo led 59-53, but Sierra seemed primed to make a game ending run. However, junior Austin Clarke hit back-to-back three pointers within 37 seconds, bringing the crowd to its feet.
After Hansen went out, head coach Matt Watson explained his strategy. "Once we ran the double reverse offense we knew Austin would either get the 6-8 center guarding him on the perimeter so he could exploit him for a layup or he would get a 5-7 guard trying to stop him shooting the 3. The 'three' prevailed."
The Cougars went on to win 73-61. Watson was pleased with the team effort. "Sean Smith ran the point guard position to perfection as well as senior Scott Chen running the low block and exploiting their team's defense."
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA