GILROY — The nets were on fire at Gilroy High Saturday.
Gilroy and Gunderson battled it out for third place at the 34th Annual Bob Hagen Memorial Tournament, but eventually the Grizzlies came out victorious, winning 94-85.
But not without a fight from the Mustangs.
It was Gilroy’s highest scoring contest of the young season, thanks in part to the combined 12 3-pointers from seniors Chris Chang and Zach Loo. Chang led the team with 23 points — seven of which were 3s.
Loo scored 21 points and the duo combined for Gilroy’s last push of the game. Chang hit a 3-pointer from downtown just before Loo finished a lay-up and nailed a 3 of his own to cut Gunderson’s lead to 91-85 at the point. That would be as close as the Mustangs would get as back-to-back fouls sent the Grizzlies to the line to score their final points before time expired.
“When we get open looks, these guys know they have a green light — that’s part of our system,” Mustangs coach Abrem Estorga said. “They know that I want them to do that. If they don’t take that (3-point) shot, they’re coming out of the game. Tonight they were falling for us, unfortunately they ended up with more points than us.”
The two teams combined for 60 fourth quarter points — 32 of which belonged to Gilroy. After losing 79-50 to Oakwood the night before, Chang said his team was determined not to let history repeat itself.
“We were very down on ourselves after last night’s (Oakwood) game,” Chang said. “We just wanted to come out and prove that we’re a better team.”
Fouls plagued both teams with Gilroy and Gunderson combining for 54 in the game. The Grizzlies also had three players who scored in the triple digits, including senior Mohamed Ali who posted 26 points and three steals. Despite all that, the Mustangs were still in striking distance at halftime, trailing Gunderson 44-39.
“Our guys could shoot the ball well, they play good basketball, it’s just a matter of stopping the other team,” Estorga said. “We can score 80 points a game, we can’t give up 85 points. We’re going to get there. Our No.1 goal is still to win our league championship. This is all preparing us for that moment.”
Travis Moulden scored 18 points, had a rebound and two steals for Gilroy. Kevin Azcueta had nine points before leaving the game with an injury halfway through the third quarter.
The Mustangs (4-5) landed themselves in the winner’s bracket after opening the tournament with a 66-34 win over Anzar on Thursday. They will play one more game before the new year, a 7 p.m. home game against Harbor on Saturday.
“We just have to do what we did tonight, but just come out with a win,” Chang said of the Harbor game.
