Gilroy defeats SLV 64-59
Aptos – The debuts of Spencer Ford, Javin Charlot and Lorenzo Dobson produced the result the Gilroy High boys basketball team was hoping for – a 64-59 win over San Lorenzo Valley on Friday to advance to the championship game of the Aptos Seascape Classic.
The Mustangs will play today at 6pm against Aptos, which beat Oceana 62-57 in the other semifinal game.
“It was fun. It was a good environment. I liked the crowd,” said Charlot, who had a team-high 28 points and was the focal point of jeering from the Cougars student section.
Gilroy (2-1) built a comfortable early lead and was up by nine at the half before the Cougars stormed back to pull in front at 45-44 with 7:17 left in the fourth quarter.
The lead changed hands four times until an 8-0 Mustangs run with less than two minutes to go in the game gave Gilroy a 61-55 lead and they closed out the win.
“We did what we had to do to win,” coach Bud Ogden said. “We’re still learning to play with each other with our kids that are new to the program.”
SLV’s Scott Kreuger was the biggest reason the Cougars made the game interesting. He scored 13 of his game-high 29 points in the third quarter as SLV outscored Gilroy 17-9 to pull to within one.
Kreuger’s two free throws gave the Cougars their first lead at 45-44, but Charlot closed strong with 11 points in the final quarter, despite having to leave the game for a short stretch after jamming his wrist.
Ford finished with nine points and 11 rebounds. Jason Conrad added nine points and Dobson finished with six.
San Benito earned its first win of the season by beating Monte Vista Christian 52-37 to advance to the fifth-place game.
Todd Janisch had 22 points to pace the Haybalers, who will face Pioneer today at 3:30pm.
