Miramonte handed the varsity boys’ basketball squad a heartbreaking loss, 68-69, on February 1.

The Mats only lead of the game came on the final basket, as the Cougars appeared to have the contest under control for the first three quarters.  In the final 20 seconds, the win slipped away.

“Before the game I felt a little nervous but our team was trying to go in with confidence and wanted to start off well,” said senior Andrew Cassidy.

“I was confident that we were going to win, I thought we were a better team and most times we play them, we win” said senior Andrew Zolintakis.

The Cougars dominated early, building an 18-2 lead.

In the 1st quarter, Miramonte fans poked fun at Campolindo missed scoring opportunities, but in return, the Cougar’s fans pointed at the scoreboard. “During the game I was trying to focus because it was really loud and there was a huge crowd. I needed to keep my head in the game,” said Cassidy.

The first quarter ended 23-6. As the game progressed, Miramonte fought back, closing the gap to 33-17 by halftime.

In the final quarter, the game was a back and forth battle.  With less than two minutes on the clock, the score was 60-58.

With 30 seconds left the score was 67-63, in favor of Campolindo. 10 seconds later, it was 68-67.

Miramonte senior, Drew Anderson grabbed the ball off a turnover and hoisted the final shot, which sank the Cougars.

“The most intense part of the game was when Miramonte scored which gave them the lead with 7 seconds left,” said Zolintakis.

When the buzzer rang, Miramonte fans ran onto the court in celebration.

“I thought everyone played hard and did well. At the end, we didn’t have any big guys left and it got a little tough for us,” said Campolindo head coach Matt Watson. “We need to work on boxing out and turnovers. We need to limit our turnovers.”

“The 1st 16 minutes, which was the 1st half, I thought everything was going well. The 3rd quarter things were still going pretty good, and in the 4th quarter, the tide turned on us a little bit. It went south,” said Watson.

Campolindo will have another opportunity to play Miramonte on February 18.

“The next game against Miramonte will have the same atmosphere and may be a little more intense because both teams will want to win,” said Cassidy.

“In the next game, I think the offense will be easier to manage. We started out well so I think if we keep it up throughout the next game, we’ll win,” said Zolintakis.