CITY BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Narbonne Nips Banning, May Get Edge in Playoffs

Narbonne High point guard Gabe Macias put on a free throw-shooting clinic in the fourth quarter and in overtime, sinking 12 of 12 to lead the visiting Gauchos to a 75-65 win over Banning on Wednesday afternoon in a game crucial to the L.A. City Section playoff picture.

With the win, Narbonne (15-8 overall, 4-5 in Southern Pacific Conference games) moved out of a tie for second place in the Pacific League with Banning (9-12, 3-6) and will probably be awarded the home-court advantage for the first round of the playoffs at tonight’s seeding meeting.

“I shoot better when the pressure is on,” said Macias, who finished with 18 points and scored all but three of Narbonne’s points in the game’s last eight minutes.

Three Gauchos scored in double figures by halftime as Narbonne took a 45-32 lead.

But the Pilots used a trapping half-court press to reel off a 23-9 run and take their first lead of the game at 55-54 with 1:44 left in the third quarter. Banning’s Jabari Anderson scored seven of his game-high 21 points in that burst.

“We just got rattled,” Macias said. “We weren’t as aggressive as we were in the first half, and we kind of laid back because we thought we had this game easy.”

Neither team led by more than two points in the rest of regulation time. A three-pointer by Antoine Hernandez (15 points), which gave the Pilots a 62-60 advantage with 3:38 left, was the only fourth-quarter field goal for either team.

Four Macias free throws gave Narbonne a two-point lead, but two Anderson free throws with 14 seconds left put the game into overtime at 64-64.

Macias drove for a layup eight seconds into overtime to give the Gauchos a lead they never gave up. They outscored Banning 11-1 in the period.

Major Goulsby scored 16 points, D’Mitri Rideout 14 and Curt Boyer 13 for Narbonne.

Carson 93, San Pedro 68--Sophomore forward Rudolph Washington scored a career-high 20 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to lead Colts to a Southern-Pacific Conference victory at home. Carson, which has already clinched the Pacific League title, improved to 17-8 overall and 7-2 in the conference.

Forward Nkosi Littleton scored 16 points and guards Bobby Perkins and Michael Ross added 12 and 10 for the Colts, who rebounded from last Friday’s 61-45 loss to Narbonne. Carson blew the game open by outscoring San Pedro, 30-15, in the fourth quarter.

San Pedro dropped to 8-13, 0-9.