SANTA CLARA — Kyle Peterson, who started his high school career at Leigh before transferring to Archbishop Mitty his sophomore season, picked the perfect time to make his only shot of the championship game Friday night.
The senior nailed a 3-pointer with 15 seconds left in overtime to give Mitty an advantage it would not surrender as the Monarchs stunned Bellarmine College Prep 57-54 to win the Central Coast Section Open Division title.
The outcome before a raucous standing-room-only crowd at Santa Clara University’s Leavey Center snapped Bellarmine’s 18-game winning streak and gave Mitty its third Open championship since the CCS added the best-of-the-best division in 2013.
After Peterson’s shot, Jake Wojcik was called for an offensive foul at the other end and Bellarmine fouled Riley Grigsby with 3.2 seconds left.
The junior made both free throws to complete his 20-point night, and Angelo Athens’ 3-point try at the buzzer missed, sending Mitty and its fans into a wild celebration.
“I wasn’t sure if I was open at first, didn’t think I was,” said Peterson, the brother of former Mitty standout Connor Peterson. “Didn’t have much choice. I hadn’t hit a shot. But I just got to shoot that and have confidence.”
Tradition-heavy Mitty (17-10) has sizzled down the stretch after an up-and-down season that included losses by 12 and 11 points during West Catholic Athletic League play to Bellarmine, which went 14-0 in the league and beat last season’s CCS Open champion, St. Francis, three times.
A third victory over Mitty was not to be for the Bells (25-2), who held the lead much of the second half but could not put the score out of reach, partly because it had a rough night at the free-throw line.
Bellarmine led 48-44 with 2:48 left but did not score again in regulation as Mitty tied the game on two foul shots by Joseph Vaughn and then a jump shot with 1:28 to go by Charles Meng.
Mitty had possession late in regulation with a chance to break the tie but missed.
Wojcik dribbled down court and passed to Athens, who drove to the basket and attempted a shot as time expired.
Knocked down on the play, Athens sat on the court looking for a foul call. There was not one, and the game went to overtime.
Athens’ 3-pointer with 28 seconds left in the extra session gave Bellarmine a 54-52 lead, but Peterson — aka Karl — answered with a deeper 3-pointer to put Mitty back on top, 55-54.
“That’s a senior making a big play,” Mitty coach Tim Kennedy said. “I didn’t realize he hadn’t made a shot all night. But we trust Karl. He does it every day in practice.”
Mitty brought a lot of momentum to the championship game, and it showed early as the Monarchs opened a 10-2 cushion. Bellarmine, which lost to St. Francis in the CCS Open final last season, pulled to within a point by the end of the first quarter and took a 10-point lead with 2 1/2 minutes left before halftime.
The lead shrunk to six by the break and tightened as the second half unfolded.
“Credit to Mitty; they jumped on us,” Bellarmine coach Patrick Schneider said. “Credit to our guys for fighting back and really for a good chunk of the game being in control of the game. But the moment when we could have separated, we were not very efficient on offense. We had a lot of fouls in a row that got them in a rhythm at the free-throw line, got them into the double bonus.
“Angelo’s shot was tremendous to get us up two. Peterson’s shot was unbelievable. Deep, deep, deep with a really good defender’s hand up. It was just a great shot. It was a championship shot.”
Had Bellarmine held on, it would have had a good chance to receive a top-four seed and a first-round home game in the NorCal Open Division playoffs.
Now the Bells will probably be on the road in the Open, possibly against the Nos. 1 or 2 seed, a disappointing drop for a team that had not lost since late December.
Mitty, which had an 11-10 record before its late-season surge, isn’t sure whether it will receive an Open bid or be placed in Division II.
Kennedy made it clear where he wants to be.
“We want Open,” he said as his players received their championship medals. “We definitely want Open from the fact that we want to compete at the highest level. We’ve played those teams, and we’re a different team now.”
The pairings will be announced Sunday.
In the meantime, Mitty can celebrate a title that seemed unlikely just a few weeks ago.
