PHOTOS: St. Anthony wins thrilling OT final over Servite in Ringo Bossenmeyer Classic

Servite’s Tariq Johnson is defended by Mychael McQueen of St. Anthony Tuesday in the championship game. (PHOTOS: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).

Servite’s boys basketball team regrouped from a slow start to force overtime in the championship game of the Ringo Bossenmeyer Tustin Holiday Classic Tuesday evening against St. Anthony.

But St. Anthony finished strong and came away with a 65-63 overtime victory over the Friars on a 15-foot jumper by senior Trystan Butardo at the buzzer. Butardo’s teammates joyously celebrated the win with him.

Servite, after coming in second place at the Sunny Hills and Western Tournaments, was hoping to secure its first tourney crown Tuesday but fell behind by 13 points at halftime in the hard-fought, intense contest.

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“We didn’t show up in the first half and that’s frustrating and an overtime game winner loss that’s really frustrating,” said Servite Coach Matt Kanne after a meeting with his team. “I didn’t think we came out with the right game plan in the first half, that’s on me, but when we let them go and play more free and open and picked up the pace of the game I thought we played much better in the second half and we showed a ton of resilience.

“I’m proud of how they fought back, we just got to play a complete game. Disappointing outcome but we get these guys (St. Anthony) again in a week and I’m confident we learned a lot and grew as a team but we got to learn how to win. Winning is a skill and that game was right there for the taking. St. Anthony is a very good basketball team, total respect to them but I just felt we let one get away and that stinks.”

Servite (14-4) was led by freshman guard Tariq Johnson, who had 25 points and led the second half comeback. He made all four of his 3-pointers in the second half. Senior forward Jake Schutt added 17 points for the Friars.

Johnson was named to the all-tournament team.

Jamil House, who scored 25 points, five coming in the overtime, led St. Anthony (8-5) Tuesday night and in all four games. He was named the tournament MVP.

Johnson’s basket with 19 seconds left in regulation tied the game 58-58. St. Anthony was unable to score in the final seconds, sending it to overtime.

Late in the overtime, St. Anthony missed a shot with the game tied, but Servite turned it over on its next possession. The Friars advanced the ball to the front court and called timeout. On the inbounds pass, the Saints looked for an open teammate before finding Butardo, who cooly sank the jumper for his only two points of the game.

“The play wasn’t originally drawn up for me but I stayed in it … and I saw that ball roll right up into my hands,” said Butardo, who was named to the all-tournament team. “I knew last shot, I had to make that one since I hadn’t been making them all day, just make the one that matters. It’s a great win, we came off the season with a rough start, we had more losses than wins, but we started getting that streak and we won this game.”

St. Anthony appeared to be in control with a 30-17 halftime lead. But Servite got untracked in third quarter cutting the lead to three points and setting the stage for a dramatic fourth quarter and overtime.

“It was a dogfight,” said St. Anthony Coach Alan Mitchell. “There was a lot of pride on the line, them being from the Trinity League, us being from the Del Rey League. Glory to God, we just had an opportunity to come out here and play.”

Mitchell praised the work ethic by Butardo.

“Four year kid in the program, it’s rare these days, he’s played on every level, been on varsity for two years, he embraced being a leader, he came in early, leaves late, grades are immaculate, so he deserved to make it,” Mitchell said.

St. Anthony also got strong efforts from Mychal McQueen (15 points) and Esten Wilson (10 points).

The teams meet again in a non-league game on Tuesday, Jan. 6 in Long Beach.

—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com