Vadillo’s three-pointer hits back iron in 51-48 home loss to
Palma.
GILROY – The Gilroy High boys basketball team played with true heart on Valentine’s Day for Friday night’s homecoming game against league-foe Palma.
Still searching for their first-ever T-CAL victory, the Mustangs fought to the bitter end – but a 20-6 third-quarter surge by the Chieftains combined with some poor free throw shooting broke their hearts, 51-48.
“This is the story of our year,” head coach Michael Baumgartner said. “I really wanted the team to win this one for their sake. It’s disheartening. They deserve better. Our guys do everything I ask of them and more.”
With four minutes left, the Mustangs were trailing, 44-35, the largest gap of the night. But suddenly the Mustangs turned things around in a hurry with a 7-0 spurt. Senior guard Danny Vadillo made two free throws, senior guard Ron Colmon chipped in a basket, and senior Brandt Chacon buried a three-pointer. Gilroy was suddenly within two – prompting a Palma time-out.
A short time later, the Chieftains were forced to call another time-out after Chacon nailed another three-pointer – bringing the house to its feet with :52 left and giving Gilroy a one-point edge.
A quick lay-in gave Palma the lead back at 48-47. Senior Erik Tollison then missed two free throws – but on the other end of the court he took a hard charge to get the ball back. The cagey senior then put in a lay up off a nice pass from Vadillo.
The free throw game persisted with Palma scoring three to Gilroy’s one, making the score 51-48 with four seconds left. Palma’s Jerry Joste tossed in the final two throws – forcing the Mustangs to try for a three-pointer.
Gilroy went into a time out to draw up the final play and the Mustangs took the floor with confidence.
Tollison’s long one-handed pass went to senior teammate Tucker Baksa – who leaped to snag it at mid-court.
“Tucker could have shot if he was open or looked to pass,” Baumgartner said.
Baksa said: “I was surprised I got it and I just tried to pass it off to Dan.”
Vadillo came streaking down the side court and Baksa dished him the ball on a nice bounce pass. Vadillo dribbled twice and stopped short of the arc by three feet as he launched the ball. Time stood still for a moment. The shot looked perfect and the Gilroy fans were ready to explode.
But all the Valentine love went out of the collective Mustang hearts as the ball hit the back of the rim and bounced harmlessly away. Baksa and Vadillo fell to the floor.
“In practice, we shoot from half court sometimes. Coach gets mad at us… but it just came up short,” Vadillo said.
The Mustangs host North Salinas on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. before finishing off their season Friday night against neighboring rival Live Oak.
“We still have two league games left and I’d like to get a couple of victories for the team, especially the seniors,” Baumgartner said. “I told the team not to think about basketball at all this weekend. Then we’ll go hard again next week.
“Only one team has beaten us by double digits this year (North Salinas),” the coach added. “We play hard. We play with heart. But we keep coming up on the short end.”
The game started off well enough for Gilroy (0-8 in T-CAL, 6-16 overall). Vadillo scored seven of the Mustangs’ 13 first-quarter points – including an early three-pointer that got the Gilroy supporters to their feet in a hurry. Vadillo then drove hard to the basket, pitching in a dazzling left-handed bank shot, followed by a fade away jump shot from 10 feet out.
Tollison had a tall order – often matching up against Palma center Michael Soto. The two players exchanged blocks a few times, battling hard and playing tenacious defense.
Senior center Blair Wortham made immediate impact with blocks and hustle. But he tallied three fouls at the half and eventually fouled out in the fourth quarter, just as the Mustangs began to mount their comeback.
Following a foul-filled second quarter, Gilroy took a 25-17 lead into the locker room with hopes of their first league win weighing in the balance.
But the Mustangs struggled to start the second half as Palma quickly tied the score at 27-27 less than 3 minutes in with back-to-back treys.
Gilroy called a time-out to stop the bleeding in the third quarter.
It didn’t.
Even with Gilroy moving into the bonus at the charity stripe, the Mustang shooters all went cold from the line and elsewhere.
The Chieftains then went on a 10-4 run to finish the third quarter. Palma’s Kellen Griflin nailed two three-pointers during the last four minutes of the quarter. The first one gave the Chieftains their first lead since the early moments of the game. Griflin made the second one with senior guard Brandt Chacon in his face much to the delight of the Palma bench and fans.
“Let’s make every ball ours. Let’s spread out on offense and let’s use the outside lanes on counter attacks,” said Baumgartner to his troops before the start of the fourth quarter.
Gilroy – which outscored Palma 17-14 in the fourth quarter – was led by senior forward Kyle Loving, who helped bring the team within range. But Loving became the second Mustang to foul out.
“This was the first time all year that two of our players have fouled out in a game,” Baumgartner said.
JV JUBILATION: Earlier, in the junior varsity game, the Mustangs won on more last second dramatics. Gilroy’s Mark Kennedy skied for a rebound with :05 left and put it back in for a 48-47 lead. After a timeout, Palma’s Goldman took the inbound pass, hurriedly ran the length of the floor and took a shot from the top of the arc. It missed the target.
