MidValleySports.Com

By Tim Peterson

(West Covina) – Alejandro Esqueda scored on a driving layup with four seconds left to lift South El Monte to a 45-43 win over Edgewood Friday night and a trip to the CIF Division 8 Finals.

The game was back and forth down the stretch. Edgewood had the ball with a chance to take the lead when the game was tied at 43 but the Lions turned the ball over and South El Monte took possession with 17 seconds left.

The Eagles called timeout to set up the final shot. They got the ball to Esqueda who was able to ride it in with just four ticks left. Edgewood inbounded the ball and then called time out with 2.6 seconds still remaining. But a pass up court was taken away by South and the celebration began.

South El Monte led early in the contest up 12-7 in the first quarter. Elijah Lopez scored six points in the quarter and Nathan Oros hit a three to get the Eagles started. But Edgewood rebounded to score the last six points of the quarter to take a 13-12 lead after the first quarter.

Both teams struggled offensively in the second quarter. The Lions won the quarter 8-7 to take a 21-19 lead into halftime.

the two teams played it even in the third quarter. Edgewood went up 32-25 as Mateo Ronquillo scored seven points for the Lions to lead the charge. Isaac McKey also had six in the quarter. But South El Monte battled back to get within two, 34-33, when the quarter ended. Lopez had six in the third for the Eagles.

It was even down the stretch until Esqueda’s shot proved to be the game-winner.

For Edgewood Ronquillo led the team with 11 points. Jason Yin scored nine, McKey had eight and Anthony Dien added seven.

Lopez led all scorers for South El Monte with 19 points. Nathan Oros scored nine and Max Pineda added six. Esqueda finished with five including the decisive bucket at the end.

While South El Monte moves on to the Division 8 Finals Edgewood finished the season with an overall record of 21-10.

SEM 12 07 13 13 45

EDG 13 08 13 09 43