WINTER SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS : Calabasas Falls in Last Seconds
Calabasas and Santa Clara have met twice this season in high school basketball with both games coming down to a dramatic finish. And once again, Calabasas took a loss.
With three seconds remaining and the game tied at 46, Santa Clara center Ray Gonzalez put up an off-balance eight-foot jump shot that fell through the basket to give Santa Clara a 48-46 Frontier League victory over the Coyotes on Tuesday night in Oxnard. Santa Clara (16-4, 6-0), which is ranked No. 1 in the Southern Section 2-A, defeated Calabasas earlier this season, 47-41.
Calabasas (14-8, 4-2) had a chance to take the lead with 23 seconds remaining, but forward Cory Marschalk stepped over the free-throw line on the front end of a one-and-one, giving Santa Clara, the ball to set up Gonzalez’s winning shot.
Steve Ward, who scored 18 points and had 11 rebounds for Calabasas, had a chance to send the game into overtime, but his 25-foot jump shot bounced off the front of the rim as the buzzer sounded.
Santa Clara’s Fred Santana scored 14 of his game-high 19 points in the second half to key the Saints’ comeback from a seven-point deficit in the third quarter.
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