Western Falls Back and Loses

Brian Jones sank two free throws with 9 seconds to play and Notre Dame held off Western, 65-62, in a Southern Section 3-A boys’ basketball game Wednesday at Notre Dame.

Notre Dame (17-8) led, 56-40, after Jones made a layup and foul shot in the opening minute of the fourth quarter.

But Western (17-7) launched a 22-7 run to whittle the lead to 63-62 in the final seconds. The Pioneers’ rally peaked with 54 seconds to play when Sam Sabbara, who scored a game-high 23 points, stripped the ball from Jones in the backcourt and converted an easy layup.

“We’ve pressed all year, there was no reason to change now,” Western Coach Greg Hoffman said. “But it was kind of a Catch-22 situation: We needed the pressure to stay in the game, but by the same token, the press has gaps in it and they found them.”

Jones scored a team-high 22 points.