HAYWARD AT NO. 1 MITTY

For those that don’t know, Drew Gordon is back for this one. The 6-foot-9 power forward isn’t starting tonight, but played 8 minutes and scored 12 points in a quarterfinal win for Mitty. Expect him to see some limited action if Mitty is up big and maybe a lot of action if Mitty struggles. Mitty is a top-ranked team in the state and probably are favored by around 20 points in this one.

9:20 p.m.: Final 85-68 Mitty.

8:55 p.m.: 60-40 Mitty with 41.7 left in the third quarter.

8:47 p.m.: Updates will be coming slower now. It is 52-31 mitty. 2:45 left in the third.

8:30 p.m.: It is 38-17 Mitty at the half.

8:27 p.m.: Gordon just missed his second dunk of the game, but that’s about the only thing going wrong for Mitty. Chiverton and Gordon on the court at the same time is unbelievable. Mitty is winning on the boards and just running Hayward. The Farmers have resorted to 3-point land already. It is 36-17 with 26 seconds left before the half.

8:22 p.m.: Wow! This game has quickly turned into the Mitty Show! Dunks all over the place. Chiverton just had a one-handed flying jam on the break. Mtty up huge now 32-15 with 2:21 left in the half. Mitty is on a 9-0 run right now.

8:19 p.m.: Gordon just missed a dunk, but he gets a putback and fouled. Mitty up 10 with four minutes to go. Make that 12 now and Gordon to the line.

8:17 p.m.: The rust is showing on Gordon. He has missed a couple turn around jumpers. But Mitty is in control here. It is 23-15 Mitty with 4:56 to go.

8:15 p.m.: Wow! Berry goes right down the lane and over Gordon and is fouled by John Adams. He banks home the layup. Unreal. 19-12 with Berry at the line. 6:41 left in the half.

8:14 p.m.: Gordon gets his first two-handed jam of the night. Mitty 19-10 with 6:50 in the first half to go.

8:12 p.m.: The refs sure have a quick whistle tonight. Ron Taylor blocked a Chiverton dunk attempt, but a foul was called. That is my bias opinion. But Mitty has been to the line 10 times already. Anyway, it is 17-10 Mitty at the end of the first quarter. Nine of  those points coming on free throws.

8:07 p.m.: Gordon just buried a couple of free throws and it is 13-9 Mitty with 1:10 to go in the first quarter.

8:04 p.m.: A good amount of Hayward fans are here being really loud. It is still 9-7 Hayward, as Gordon gets his first block of the game. Hayward big man Keith Martin picks up his second foul trying to guard Gordon down low. 2:33 left in the first. 

8:02 p.m. Drew Gordon just enetered the game and gets a rebound and misses the putback. It is 9-7 Hayward with 3:31 left in the first quarter. Mitty is cold from the field right now and Hayward is being a scrappy team, getting every loose ball.

8 p.m.: Berry hits a long 3-pointer to tie the game at 7-7 for Hayward. Hayward is in man defense and Mitty is trying to get the ball inside to take advantage of its height. 7-7 with 4:45 to go.

7:56 p.m.: And we have just begun. Martin gets a layup for Hayward 2-0, but Mitty’s Andoh is at the line and makes both 2-2. just under 7 to go in the first quarter.

7:52 p.m.: I got to tell ya. My first though while they are introducing the teams is: Wow, Mitty is huge! The height difference between these two teams is monumental. Hayward will probably try to run Mitty up and down the court, but we already know Mitty can run. This is really a tough matchup for Hayward. 

7:50 p.m.: We are seconds away from tipoff. Here are the starting lineups: For Mitty: John Adams, 6-6 forward; Angelo Caloiaro, 6-7 guard/forward; Jay Wey, 6-0 guard; Enoch Andoh, 6-8 power forward and Collin Chiverton 6-6 guard. For Hayward: Davion Berry, 6-2 guard, Jabreel Nasir, 6-0 guard, Stevonte Young, 5-6 guard, Keith Martin 6-4 center, and Clement Ani 6-1 forward. 

7:37 p.m.: Well, the boys are warming up. Here comes the Monarchs to an eruption from the crowd. And here comes Hayward to its band. Good to see the Farmers’ band made the trip and will be heard tonight. They have been great this year. We are about 10 minutes away from tipoff. 

7:35 p.m.: Mitty girls win, 52-42 over Oak Ridge and advance to the NorCal title game at Arco Arena in Sacramento Saturday. Congrats.  

7:30 p.m.: Mitty has gained control of this game after a huge 3-pointer and then a three-point play. It is 47-40 Mitty with 42.6 to go.  

7:27 p.m.: 41-40 now Mitty with 1:48 to go. I am dreading all of these timeouts right now. But this is a great game. 

7:25 p.m.: Mitty is up 38-37 and has one free throw coming after a timeout. This place is already packed with plenty of more waiting in line to get in after the girls game. We have 2:52 to go. 

7:20 p.m.:  Wow! A huge jumper from the sideline for Oak Ridge and it now leads 37-34 with 4:25 to go. I really hope this game doesn’t go to overtime for my sake.

7:14 p.m.: I am very entertained with this D-II girls game right now. Oak Ridge has stormed back behind some clutch shooting and defense. It is 32-31 Mitty with 7 minutes to go! 

6:53 p.m.: Oh, I am soooo lucky and so are you fans out there. I connected to a wireless signal here in the gym, didn’t have trouble getting in the door and even got a table to work on. This is great. We are at halftime of the girls game and I will be back around 7:30 p.m. to give you live updates from tonight’s Hayward-Archbishop Mitty boys Division II NorCal playoff game. In case you’re curious, the Mitty girls are winning 22-11 over Oak Ridge at the intermission.  YOU CAN FIND UPDATES FROM OTHER GAMES BY GOING TO THE PREVIOUS POST.