By Matthew Schuler
(San Gabriel)-Gabrielino used big first and fourth quarter spurts to squeeze by South El Monte, 43-39 Friday night in front of a home crowd to push its way into a three-way tie for first place in the Mission Valley League title race.
With 21.9 seconds left to play in the game, Villela Jordan sank two out of three free throws to climb to a 41-39 deficit, but Gabrielino’s leading scorer on the season, Ryan Lam, got fouled and iced back-to-back critical free throws to make it a two possession game with less than 15 seconds remaining.
Oscar Nava’s following 3-point attempt failed and Gabrielino held on for another home victory and 6-2 league record.
The win creates a three way knot as Mountain View and Arroyo also won their games, giving all three teams a 6-2 league records and a momentary share of the top title spot in the MVL.
Lam hit six clutch free throws, all coming in the fourth quarter. Chris Duarte added eight points, scoring six early in the second to help attain a 4-point advantage by half, and Aron Castrellon and Tyler Shimamoto added five a piece for Gabby.
South El Monte trailed for most of the night and it was 14-10 after the first quarter ended.
Ray Nativad led South El Monte and all scorers with 13 points, including two threes from beyond the arc.
Mountain View got revenge on El Monte (41-31) and Arroyo scored a victory over Rosemead (46-37) to turn the Mission Valley League race into a dog fight.
During the fourth quarter Shimamoto raced down court and drove to the basket hard, dribbling the ball behind his back and converting a lay up in one motion. Shimamoto then followed it up with another coast to coast lay in to force South Coach Robert Burgess, to take a time out after capturing their biggest lead (37-29) with 2:37 left in the fourth.
Even though the win grants them a share for the top spot, Gabrielino coach John Carney was looking at the turnovers and sloppy play that continues to occur throughout the season.
“I’m not happy about it,” said Carney when asked about the victory. “At this point of the season we should be playing better”.
The Eagles of Gabby have only two remaining games to keep their share of the league title, playing El Monte Wednesday and Arroyo Friday.
South drops to 4-4 in league and finishes up against Arroyo and Mountain View.
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