Boys’ basketball: St. Joseph Notre Dame pulls out victory

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A desperation shot by Brandon Randolph at the buzzer hit the rim, but St. Bernard fell to Alameda St. Joseph Notre Dame, 47-44, in the state Division V championship game in Sacramento.

St. Bernard got the ball with 1.7 seconds left after a missed free throw by Jacari Whitfield and called a timeout. The Vikings got the ball into Randolph, who came so close to tying the game but it was questionable even if he had made the 55-foot shot if it would have counted because time may have expired.

There were five lead changes in the fourth quarter. The difference was the three-point shooting of Whitfield, who had five three-pointers. His three-pointer with 58 seconds left broke a 42-42 tie. The Pilots were eight of 21 from three-point range.

Randolph had 14 points for St. Bernard, which was 4-23 last season but improved to 26-9 under first-year Coach Reggie Morris Jr. Thurman Thomas had 10 points and 10 rebounds.

-- Eric Sondheimer