Pittsburg squeaks by Foothill as NCS playoffs open

On a night of upsets and near upsets in North Coast Section Division 1 first-round boys basketball playoff action, visiting Pittsburg withstood a fourth-quarter rally to defeat Foothill-Pleasanton 44-43 on Tuesday night.

Foothill (20-7), the eighth seed, fought back from a 10-point deficit and cut it to one with four seconds to play on Michael Climent’s third three-pointer.

After Garrett Wrenn (10 points) scored to give Foothill its first lead of the game at 40-39, Udoh hit two foul shots to give Pittsburg a 41-40 lead with 56.6 remaining.

Foothill had to burn its final timeout to avoid a five-second violation inbounding the ball.

Pittsburg’s stifling defense then forced a turnover and Udoh hit two more free throws with 27.8 left to stretch the lead to three.

Liberty (18-9) had a 10-point halftime lead but watched three follow shots roll off the rim in the final seconds to preserve the win.

In the game of the night, fourth-seed Heritage fought back from a 14-point second-half deficit and forced two overtimes with last-second shots.

Marcus Wallace drilled a 30-footer under heavy pressure to force a second overtime for host Heritage after teammate Anthony Dennis ended regulation with a tying layup with 2.1 seconds left.