The Christopher High boys varsity basketball team led by three at halftime, by six after three quarters and held a double-digit advantage early in the fourth against visiting Seaside on Tuesday night.
However, the Spartans and guard Kyle Hieb had the final say in a 74-73 Seaside victory in Monterey Bay League action at CHS.
Hieb, who scored eight of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, drew a foul and made 1-of-2 free throws with two seconds left to give the Spartans the narrow edge.
“We played really well tonight, the screws came off a little bit in the end,” CHS coach Scott Aldridge said. “We turned the ball over a couple times, had a couple travels called on us, they made a couple 3s, and next thing you know they are back in it.”
The Cougars (6-14, 2-6 MBL) led 55-49 entering the fourth and expanded the cushion to 11 early on before Seaside made its run.
“Both teams played their hearts out. It was a fun game to be a part of. It was probably one of the best team-performances for four quarters that we’ve had,” Aldridge said. “Unfortunately, it ended in a loss for us.”
Dillon Babb paced the Cougars with 18 points and 10 rebounds, Dillon Day had 10 points and 10 boards, Andrew Foster deposited 13 points and dished five assists and Takoda Bowers contributed 12 points, seven rebounds and four blocks. Joe Jakubowski had 21 points for Seaside, which beat CHS 74-61 in the teams’ first meeting Jan. 10.
“ Improvement is what we are looking for,” Aldridge said. “Now we move on to the next.”
The next one is Wednesday night at Pajaro Valley.
Nine different Cougars in a CHS girls basketball team 51-33 victory over host Pajaro Valley on Tuesday night, keeping in tact its one-game lead in the Monterey Bay League.
Angelica Carrillo’s 11 points led the way for the nine scorers. Joining in on the stat sheet: Hanna Tabron had eight points, Dejah Raoof seven, Cydney Caradonna six, Maddie Peterson, Merrett Brown, Ashanti Clayton and Ebony Stevens each had four and Sophia Amelio had three.
The Cougars (15-5, 8-1 MBL) led 25-14 at the half and it was 41-22 after three quarters of play.
Pajaro Valley’s Vanessa Soto led all point producers with 23.
CHS is off until next Monday.
