Boys’ Basketball: Eagles rally for OT win
GARDEN GROVE — After 36 minutes of basketball, Coach Xavier Castellano said it best when he described the latest effort turned in by Estancia High.
“It’s not going to be pretty this year,” Castellano said right after his Eagles rallied for a 51-43 win in overtime against Cerritos Whitney on Wednesday.
It was ugly, but by winning its final pool-play game in the Los Amigos boys’ basketball tournament at Bolsa Grande High, Estancia moves on to the championship bracket. The Eagles (2-1) face Marina on Friday at Los Amigos High at 7:30 p.m.
With the game on the line, Kailey Alama and Cameron Jones came through for the Eagles with clutch free throws.
Alama converted one free throw with 13 seconds left in the fourth quarter, tying Whitney, 42-42, to force overtime. At the end of regulation, Castellano’s team still had a shot to win, even though the Eagles’ shots in the game weren’t falling from anywhere on the court.
Through four quarters, Estancia shot 25% from the field, 35.2% from three-point range and 63.6% from the free-throw line. Jones helped raise a couple of those percentages.
The sophomore scored six of the Eagles’ nine points in the four-minute overtime. Jones never missed any of his shots, his reverse layup was the toughest, and he converted each of his four free throws.
“He grew up today,” Castellano said of Jones, who was eight-of-eight shooting from the charity stripe and finished with 10 points. “He didn’t turn the ball over. He controlled the offense for us. He’s never played point [guard before this season]. We threw him in this year.”
Jones is the second member of his family that Castellano has coached. When Castellano was guiding the Estancia girls’ basketball team, Mishae Jones played for him during the 2011-12 season.
Castellano is now in his second season in charge of the boys, and he has an inexperienced group. The Eagles do have eight seniors, but only two of them played for Castellano as juniors last season. One of the two, Connor Brown, struggled through the first three quarters against Whitney (2-1).
Brown picked up two fouls in the first 97 seconds. Having to sit Brown, a 6-foot-3, 220-pounder, right away hurt Estancia.
Whitney took a 10-0 lead in the first 3½ minutes. While the Eagles misfired on their first four shots, the Wildcats buried three three-pointers in a 77-second span.
Alama ended Estancia’s shooting woes by converting a shot in the paint while Luigi Gonzales fouled him. Alama was unable to complete the three-point play at the free-throw line.
Nevertheless, free throws and the three-pointer helped the Eagles cut the deficit to 18-13. Conner Gray and Evan Pettingill each knocked down a three, and Pettingill and Jackson Winters both converted two free throws late in the first quarter.
Pettingill, who recorded a game-high 22 points and four three-pointers, kept the Eagles within striking distance. They were even with Whitney, 24-24, at halftime, and trailed Whitney, 33-29, after three quarters.
The two players that gave Estancia trouble were Michael Hamakawa and KJ Hardrict, each finished with 13 points apiece. Hardrict hurt the Eagles with his rebounding, grabbing 15, eight on the offensive end, and Hamakawa nailed three three-pointers.
Things looked good for Whitney after Hamakawa drained a shot from behind the arc seven seconds into the fourth quarter. The Wildcats led, 36-29, but Estancia went on a 12-2 run. Brown found his shot, hitting two baskets in the paint, while Jones and Pettingill combined to make six free throws, and Pettingill’s layup put the Eagles up, 41-38, with two minutes left in the fourth.
The lead didn’t hold up. Daniel Sou and Hamakawa quickly drove in for layups, giving the Wildcats a 42-41 lead with less than a minute left in the fourth. Whitney appeared on its way to staying unbeaten in the tournament, all it had to do was make its free throws.
Alfred Flores, an assistant who led Whitney because Coach Ruben Guerrero had a prior commitment, saw Estancia send the Wildcats to the line two straight times for one-and-one situations. Each time, Whitney missed the front end, giving the Eagles hope.
After Alama grabbed the last miss, one of his 12 rebounds on the night, the Wildcats fouled the senior. Alama made the one that mattered, the first of the bonus, tying it up at 42-42.
There would be overtime to decide the outcome. Estancia went on to outscore Whitney, 9-1, in the final four minutes.
“It really builds our morale and it just like builds our confidence,” Pettingill said of finding ways to pull off the win.
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Los Amigos Tournament
Pool play
Estancia 51, Whitney 43 (OT)
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Estancia 13 – 11 – 5 – 13 – 9 — 51
Whitney 18 – 6 – 9 – 9 – 1— 43
E – Pettingill 22, Jones 10, Brown 5, Alama 4, Winters 4, Van Dyke 3.
3-pt. goals – Pettingill 4, Van Dyke 1, Gray 1.
Fouled out – None.
Technicals – None.
W – Hamakawa 13, Hardrict 13, Barnett 5, Flores 4, Sou 3, Gonzales 3, King 2.
3-pt. goals – Hamakawa 3, Barnett 1, Gonzales 1.
Fouled out – None.
Technicals – None.
