By Tim Peterson
(El Monte) – El Monte held off a late Gabrielino rally and spoiled the Eagles undefeated season with a 50-49 victory Friday night in the Lions Den.
Gabrielino had the last shot but Bear Razo’s three pointer at the buzzer bounced off the rim and the Lions were victorious. Razo led the Eagles in scoring with 18 points overall including seven free throws in the fourth quarter. He had a good look after receiving the inbounds pass with 3.6 seconds left but his step back three just missed the mark.
El Monte entered the final frame up by eight points but Gabrielino’s press led to El Monte turnovers and missed shots allowing the Eagles to get back in it. The Lions were outscored 17-10 in the fourth with Razo leading the way but Kacey Romero hit two big baskets for El Monte to help keep the Eagles at bay.
Romero was the go to guy for El Monte throughout the contest, especially in the third quarter as he scored 11 points including a three pointer. El Monte, up by three at the half, increased the advantage to eight behind Romero’s hot shooting as he knocked down four consecutive shots.
El Monte jumped out of the gate quickly taking a 6-0 lead to open the game but Gabrielino battled back to lead 15-14 after one. Razo hit a pair of threes and had 11 of the 15 in the quarter. Josh Penunuri buried a pair of treys for the Lions and Romero had six.
El Monte forged a lead in the second quarter holding the Eagles to just six points. Penunuri hit another three and Yahir Martinez added a couple of buckets and the Lions went into the break up 24-21. They gained some separation in the third before Gabrielino made its last push.
For the Eagles Preston Gilmore joined Razo in double figures with 12 and Mike Oteguro had 10. Alec Smith added five down low.
The Lions managed to win with just four players in the scoring column. Romero scored a game high 22 points and Penunuri had 15. Martinez tallied eight and Kimbon Aseh tossed in five. And that was it. But it was enough.
Gabrielino still won the Mission Valley League title with a record of 10-1. El Monte finished the regular season at 9-3, third in the MVL behind South El Monte. Both teams will now look forward to the playoffs. CIF Pairings will be announced Sunday
G 15 6 11 17 49
E 14 10 16 10 50
@ SoCal: I was a D1 athlete, had 30 D1 college offers, married the prom queen and drive a Lambo. You can believe it if it’s on a MVS thread.
Socal, you are joke of a man.
You still don’t understand, you will learn the hard way and maybe that’s best.
Yep, totally agree.
Stay in school please… adult school, continuation school, community college anything.
Two takeaways
Two teams played a tight game that will hopefully benefit them both in playoffs.
1 player asked for his name to be spelled correctly, which I don’t see how that is a bad thing.
@Truth
Not only did I play high school sports, but I was a D1 athlete that played against some of the all time greats. The truth hurts and if you can’t handle the truth than eventually you will be out of the game come graduation time. Not very many can play at the next level and if you are a mental midget, you done. I know you are a mental midget.
Shut up SoCal. You never played high school sports in your life.
Never call the the MVS. The Gabrielino player should not have called out Tim, karma. Down goes the Eagles with the playoffs looming. Just be happy that the MVS is giving you guys some love.