The boys’ varsity basketball team fought Marin Catholic until the final seconds, but came out empty-handed after MC junior Dempsey Roggenbuck knocked down the game-winning shot with a mere four seconds left on the clock.
Redwood suffered the loss at the hands of Marin Catholic Tuesday night, ending the game with only a two-point deficit of 67-65. The loss ended the Giants’ undefeated streak and knocked them from sole possession of first place in MCAL standings.
Junior Jordan Jackson led the Giants with 26 points, and junior Alex Wilson contributed another 13 points.
The Giants were ahead 18-15 at the end of the first quarter. However, it was not long until the Wildcats took the lead in the second quarter, continuing in a back and forth affair throughout the continuation of the game.
Marin Catholic junior Joey Calcaterra played a key role in the Wildcats’ victory, leading all scorers with 31 points.
“We needed a win,” Calcaterra said. “Knowing that Redwood was the only undefeated team in the league, we wanted to beat them, so we fought hard all game.”
Jackson believes that the Redwood’s strong defense is what kept the score close.
“Our defensive intensity was up the whole time, so we played a good game,” he said.
While this was the first loss for the Giants this season, spirits stayed high.
“I told the kids last night ‘Stay processed, focused, not result driven, to stay in the moment all the time and not worry about what the outcome is,’” said head coach Steve Compagno. “It was hard to lose, but I couldn’t have asked them to do anything more than they did and I’m really proud of them.”
The Giants (4-1) will look to rebound from the loss at home against Terra Linda (1-4) on Friday, Jan. 15.
