HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Antelope Valley Denies Quartz Hill, 61-60

Trailing by a point with 14 seconds to play? Who ya gonna call?

If you’re Quartz Hill High Coach Don Moore, you have Gabe Higa’s number memorized. Higa, the Rebels’ 6-foot-6 senior forward, had the crowd at Quartz Hill on Friday night mesmerized with five three-point shots--three of them NBA-distance net-shredders in the seesaw third quarter.

But Higa failed to answer the call--or even touch the ball--in the final seconds of the Golden League game as Antelope Valley hung on for a dramatic 61-60 victory before a standing-room-only crowd of about 1,800.

Quartz Hill’s Dan Prince managed a 20-foot jump shot with three seconds to play. But the ball bounced away from Higa, carrying with it any chance the Rebels might have had of catching the first-place Antelopes in the league race.

With two games to play, Antelope Valley (19-4, 7-1 in league play) moved three games ahead of Quartz Hill (13-10, 4-4).

“I wanted the ball,” said Higa, who scored a game-high 25 points--18 in the second half. “Scorers always think they want the ball more, right? We were supposed to work it inside. I’m really disappointed.”

Moore, whose team lost twice to Antelope Valley this season, conceded that the Antelopes succeeded in denying Higa the ball during crunch time. Forward Jabbar Briggs shadowed Higa throughout the game. Briggs, who scored 14 points, made the winning layup with 23 seconds to play.

Antelope Valley’s Chris Walters scored a team-high 20 points, including four thunderous dunks.