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Halfway through the third quarter on Saturday night at Contra Costa College, the St. Mary’s Panthers were digging themselves into the deep hole. They had already blown a halftime lead and were down, 42-38, to archrival Salesian. But St. Mary’s head coach Jose Caraballo still had an ace up his sleeve: DaShawn Freeman. 

Normally St. Mary’s starting point guard, Freeman missed the first half of the season with a stress fracture in his leg. He played only three minutes of the first half on Saturday after getting sick late in the week. But when his team needed him, he answered the bell. 

With Freeman back in the game directing traffic on offense and creating havoc on defense, the Panthers (22-2, 10-0 BSAL) ripped off a 19-0 run to take control of the game. When Freeman left the game after just eight minutes of action, St. Mary’s had turned a four-point deficit into a 62-46 lead, ensuring they would stay undefeated in BSAL play with an 70-57 win. 

“I felt it when I came in the game. We just got an energy surge,” Freeman said. “We were just in the moment, and it seemed like everybody was everywhere for us.” 

Saturday’s game was the fourth time the Panthers have beaten Salesian (14-7, 7-3) in the last two seasons, with each game a tightly-contested affair. 

Freeman played just over 12 minutes of the game, but he made the most of his time with 13 points, 4 steals and 4 assists. Backcourt mate John Sharper struggled from the field, shooting just 4-for-11, but made up for it by being perfect from the free-throw line. Sharper hit all 14 of his foul shots, giving him a game-high 24 points to go with 6 steals. He carried the Panthers in the first half, scoring the game’s first six points with Freeman saving his energy for the end, and was unusually aggressive against the Chieftans, resulting in his numerous trips to the charity stripe. 

“I didn’t even know I shot that many times,” Sharper said when told of his perfect effort. “I’ve never shot that many free throws in one game before.” 

The Panthers needed everything they got from their backcourt, because Salesian dominated the paint. The Chieftans won the rebounding battle 40-21 and held St. Mary’s big men Chase Moore and Simon Knight to a combined 11 points and 8 rebounds. But when Freeman came in the game for a four-guard setup, Salesian couldn’t match the speed of the Panthers’ defense. 

“We had a lot of speed in there, because we needed to change the tempo of the game,” Freeman said.” 

Sharper also did a superlative job on defense against Salesian star John Winston, who finished with just 9 points on 4-of-16 shooting. Sharper and Freeman both play on the same AAU team with Winston, so they had a special insight into how to slow him down. 

“They did a great job on John tonight,” Salesian head coach Bill Mellis said. “But they also stopped our other scorers, so I think John felt more pressure to put more on his shoulders.” 

Winston’s night was nicely summed up by a play with the game already decided. Down 14 points, Winston swiped the ball from the Panthers in the open court and had an easy score. But he tried to take his frustrations out on one dunk, and he bounced it off the back rim and all the way to center court, where St. Mary’s Moore calmly collected it. 

Salesian was led by Brandon Jones’ 13 points, with Kyle Lankford helping our with 11 points. 

Saturday’s game was held at Contra Costa College rather than Salesian’s tiny gym, but even with the extra room the crowd was standing-room-only, and the organizers were forced to turn people away after the game started. Saturday also marked the first appearance of “The Rock,” a golden basketball trophy that will pass between the schools with each year’s regular-season game. 

“It’s a great rivalry, and this was a good game,” Caraballo said. “We’ll probably see them again in the playoffs.”