Andres Gomez’s tip-in off a missed free throw in the final
seconds proved to be just enough Tuesday, as the Anzar boys’
basketball team outlasted visiting York 53-52 in a wild final
minute in Coastal Athletic League play.
SAN JUAN BAUTISTA
Andres Gomez’s tip-in off a missed free throw in the final seconds proved to be just enough Tuesday, as the Anzar boys’ basketball team outlasted visiting York 53-52 in a wild final minute in Coastal Athletic League play.
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York actually knotted the game at 51-all in the final minute off a 3-pointer, but Anzar immediately responded by getting to the foul line in the final seconds. However, the shooter missed both free-throw attempts.
On the second missed attempt, though, Gomez, who finished with 17 points for Anzar, got the tip-in basket to put the Hawks ahead 53-51.
York called a timeout to set up one final play, and it resulted in a 40-foot 3-point attempt that would have won the Falcons the game.
The shot attempt missed, but Anzar was called for a shooting foul, nonetheless, putting York on the line for three free throws.
However, in yet another twist, Anzar head coach Ed Cecena said York was called for a celebration infraction, as substitute players left the bench on the foul call. The penalty, according to referees, forced York to choose a different free-throw shooter — not the shooter who attempted the 3-pointer, Adams, who led all scorers with 25 points.
The free-throw shooter that was next in line, then, drained his first attempt to pull the Falcons to within one point, but missed his next two shots, and the Hawks escaped with the victory.
“We finally caught a break,” Cecena said.
The one-point win for Anzar, which improves the team to 8-3 in the CAL, 9-9 overall, was aided by a strong second quarter for the Hawks, one in which they outscored the Falcons by a 14-3 margin.
The remaining three quarters, meanwhile, saw the Falcons outscore the Hawks 49-39.
“We picked up the defense and they started missing some shots,” Cecena said of the second stanza. “In the second half, we kind of relaxed a little bit and they came back — got to give them credit.”
Nick Salgado led Anzar with 19 points, while Jesse Ramirez added 13.
The Hawks will play their final regular season game against Trinity Christian on Thursday night in Monterey. Tip-off is 7 p.m.
TEAM 1 2 3 4 F
YORK 19 3 16 14 52
ANZR 14 14 11 14 53
Anzar (53): J. Soliz 2 0 0-0 4, J. Ramirez 5 1 0-0 13, N. Salgado 9 0 1-2 19, A. Gomez 8 0 1-1 17.
AHS Girls Basketball
A six-point edge in the third quarter supplied visiting York with enough of a cushion late, as the Falcons defeated the Anzar girls’ basketball team 36-24 Tuesday in Coastal Athletic League action.
Melissa Weckerle led the Hawks with eight points, while Shelby Sorensen added six and Gabby Medina chimed in with four.
The win pushes Anzar to a 5-5 record in the CAL, 7-15 overall. The Hawks will now wait to hear their seeding in next week’s Central Coast Section Division V Championships.
The difference in Tuesday’s game was the third quarter, however. A slow start to the second half saw the Hawks, who were trailing York by a 14-13 margin at halftime, enter the final period down 28-17.
“I don’t know what the deal was. We had some defensive breakdowns and we just fell behind,” Anzar head coach Sam Stewart said. “That was the difference in the game.”
Anzar will look to rebound in the playoffs. The seedings and matchups will be announced this weekend in San Jose.
TEAM 1 2 3 4 F
YORK 5 9 14 8 36
ANZR 4 9 8 7 24
