The Garfield Bulldogs hosted the O’Dea Fighting Irish last night in their second matchup in a month, with Garfield walking away with a hard-earned OT 82-76 victory over the visiting Irish. Led by Tripp Haywood (22 points) and Isaiah Davis (19 points), the Bulldogs rallied in the 4th quarter to grind out a tough win and level the season series at 1-1 against O’Dea — who beat them 70-57 earlier in the season.
Tied up at 67-67 at the end of regulation, both teams searched for an edge that would propel them to victory and claim an important result for postseason seeding.
In OT, the game went back and forth between the Bulldog’s and the Fighting Irish as Garfield managed to retake a slim 76-74 lead with one minute remaining. Garfield would then take a 78-74 lead after nailing two free throws from the line. O’Dea shot back with two free throws of their own, bringing the score to 78-76 with 20 seconds left in overtime. But Garfield would stand strong, scoring a two-pointer followed up by two free throws, as the Bulldogs would claim an 82-76 overtime win against the Fighting Irish.
O’Dea led 67-60 lead with 1:55 remaining in the 4th quarter, but it was Isaiah Davis came up big for Garfield, nailing a handful of clutch 3s to keep the home team in contention after the Irish had come out of the half revitalized and eventually took the lead from the Bulldogs.
Despite closing out the 1st half 34-27, Garfield found themselves trailing O’Dea and their top scorers on the night Brian Webster (26 points, 8 rebounds) and Breylon Webb (16 points, 4 rebounds).
But thanks to Garfield’s Haywood and Davis dropping shots from all over the floor, the home team was able to push the visitors all the way up to the end of regulation before driving home the result in OT.
Both teams still trail Rainier Beach in the Metro League standings, and depending how the postseason shakes out, this might not be the last time these two juggernauts clash on the court.
