CIF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA DIVISION II STATE PLAYOFFS

Gahr makes another fourth quarter
comeback, gets the best of Mayfair again

By Loren Kopff

Five days removed from winning the school’s first California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section championship, the Gahr boys basketball team put on an encore for the ages against the same team it defeated for the Division II-A title. For the third straight game, the Gladiators used a strong fourth quarter to make a rally but this time they needed more, and more.
With 16.6 seconds remaining in double overtime, junior John Benson scored the game winner, giving the Gladiators a remarkable 78-77 victory in the second round of the Southern California Division II state playoffs last Thursday night. Gahr never led in the second half, or in the first overtime, but took its first lead in almost 23 minutes when Benson converted a free throw to give the hosts a 72-71 lead. But it’s how Gahr ended regulation and the first overtime that will be talked about for years.
Sophomore Brian Nebo took a pass from senior Davon Potts and sank a game-tying three-pointer from the left corner with 7.5 seconds left in regulation. Then Benson scored on his own offensive put back with 10.6 seconds left in the first overtime to tie the game at 71-71. After the game, Gahr first-year head coach Richard Roper said this was the toughest group he has been around in his 12 years of coaching.
“Both teams are evenly matched and I mean this in all sincerity,” Roper said. “Both of these games could have gone either way. This is a game where nobody lost tonight; someone just had to get beat. I really feel that way. They’re a championship team just like we are. My heart goes out to them. There are no losers tonight.”
On Mar. 5, the Gladiators (26-8) knocked off Mayfair 63-48 by outscoring the Monsoons 23-8 in the fourth quarter. In the state playoffs, Gahr owned the fourth quarter, 21-10, after the Monsoons seemingly had the game wrapped up when they led 52-39 in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter.
“Our team has been through a lot of adversity and pretty much nothing has been surprising to us,” Potts said. “We’ve been down before but all we have is each other. When we have each other, we know our roles and we know at the end of the game who to give it to and who needs to execute.”
Gahr led throughout the majority of the first half, building as much as an eight-point lead with 5:03 left in the second quarter. But the Suburban League champions went on a 14-5 run to end the half and took their first lead with 20.9 seconds remaining on a pair of free throws from Dion Wright.
Gahr’s shooting then went cold in the third quarter, connecting on four of 14 shots from the field while Mayfair was scoring 22 points. But as was the case in the semifinals against Foothill when Gahr rallied from 13 points down early in the third quarter, the Gladiators made their comeback much later.
After Wright, who led everyone with 36 points, scored 22 seconds into the fourth quarter, Gahr scored nine straight points on a three-pointer from senior Javonte Sales and six free throws. With 1:16 left in regulation, Potts dished a pass to junior Michael Alvarez who knocked down a three-pointer in the right corner. With his team leading by three points and less than 10 seconds left, Wright missed a shot that could have sealed the game. It allowed Nebo to hit the game-tying basket.
Mayfair scored the first nine points of the first overtime but with 1:36 left, Gahr began to make its second comeback. Alvarez was four of five on free throws and Potts was true on his only trifecta. With 22.1 seconds left and down 71-69, Nebo had a steal and Roper called a timeout.
Potts led Gahr with 20 points and was perfect on all 13 free throws. Alvarez had a career-high 17 points with nine rebounds while Sales, who left the game late with a broken foot late in the fourth quarter, added 13 points. Benson (11 points, nine rebounds) and Nebo (10 points, five rebounds) rounded out the starting five for the Gladiators. The other seven points came from senior Orlando Thompson.
“We just have a lot of heart,” Roper said. “Our seniors don’t want the season to end. Michael Alvarez is a beast. Orlando Thompson, not normally in [during] crunch time, stepped in and made some big plays. Brian Nebo, a little off tonight, but then he steps up and makes the game-tying three [in regulation].”
Gahr’s season would come to an end last Saturday night when it lost to San Diego-based Lincoln 83-52. The Hornets are the defending Division II state champs and are ranked eighth in the nation according to USA Today. Potts scored 21 points in the loss while Alvarez added 11 points.