St. Amant Is Able to Finish in Overtime

Gio St. Amant, Bellflower St. John Bosco High’s do-everything guard, did everything during regulation Tuesday night but put away Placentia El Dorado.

St. Amant scored 29 points and answered every big El Dorado bucket with one of his own as the Braves tried to hold off the Golden Hawks’ frantic fourth-quarter rally. With time running down, though, St. Amant missed a layup and later an off-balance three-pointer that allowed El Dorado to send the Southern Section Division II-AA second-round boys’ basketball game at Bellflower into overtime.

That’s when St. Amant took control, scoring six of the Braves’ eight points during the four-minute extra period to give St. John Bosco a 73-69 victory that propels them into the quarterfinals against fourth-seeded Corona Centennial.

“After missing those two shots at the end, I felt I had to redeem myself,” said St. Amant, who finished with a game-high 35 points. “I couldn’t end my season like that.”

St. Amant has averaged 36 points during the Braves’ three playoff victories, including a 40-point output against Hemet West Valley in the first round.

“He’s our go-to guy,” St. John Bosco Coach Matt Hart said. “He’s been big.”

St. Amant hit a mid-range jumper to give the Braves (23-6) a 63-55 lead midway through the fourth quarter and seemingly put the game out of reach. But El Dorado standout forward David Patten (27 points) made a basket underneath and a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to four points.

St. John Bosco’s Roy Alugbue took a feed from Kenny Taylor and scored inside to put the Braves back up by six, but Golden Hawk guards Dustin Price and Kyle Miller hit back-to-back three-pointers to tie the game at 65 with 56 seconds left.

Each team had a possession with two seconds remaining but threw the ball out of bounds. St. John Bosco got the last shot off when Robert Reynaga rebounded St. Amant’s long miss and attempted a quick putback. The ball stuck on the rim for about a second before falling out.

Patten appeared to give El Dorado (23-5) its first lead of the game on the first possession of overtime when he scored on a drive, but the Pepperdine-bound player was called for charging. St. Amant then drove to the basket and made a layup as St. John Bosco took the lead.

The Golden Hawks, who never led, had a chance to tie the game or take the lead with six seconds left before Price lost control of the ball and turned it over after dribbling behind his back. Reynaga was intentionally fouled and made two free throws to set the final margin.

St. Amant scored 16 by halftime as the Braves took a 12-point after having led by as many as 15 in the second quarter.

The Braves built their big lead because Patten was a nonfactor for all of the first quarter and much of the second. He missed his first three shots before being benched by Golden Hawk Coach Ryan Mounce.