CIF-SOUTHERN SECTION BOYS BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS

Potts carries Gahr on his shoulders in fourth quarter, Gladiators advance to finals

By Loren Kopff

VILLA PARK-Davon Potts was determined to play for a California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section divisional championship one last time. And the senior was going to take his Gahr team with him at no costs.
Potts scored 12 of his team’s 17 points in the fourth quarter and the Gladiators staged a remarkable second half comeback to upset third ranked Foothill 71-70 in a Division II-A semifinal game last Friday night at Villa Park High School. Gahr, which fell to Harvard-Westlake two seasons ago in the Division III-A title game, will face fifth ranked Mayfair, Saturday night at the Anaheim Arena. Potts scored a game-high 32 points, was 12 of 15 from the field and five of six from the free throw line. Potts, senior Javonte Sales and junior Anthony Martinez, are the only members from that Gahr team two seasons ago.
“We had to pull something out of us,” Potts said. “I told them at halftime we can’t say, ‘would have, could have, should have’ to get to the championship. Coach told me to play the one and if they crash, then dish it off. I have trust in my teammates to knock down shots early. Even though we didn’t knock down shots early, I told them to relax, set your feet and we would get the shots off.”
Moments after the victory, Gahr first-year head coach Ricky Roper summed up the game with four words: “Davon Potts, Javonte Sales”.
“They’re Gahr legends and as long as I’m at Gahr, I’ll be talking to some kid who’s in the seventh grade right now about those two,” Roper said.
Seventh ranked Gahr (23-7), which trailed by as many as 16 points midway through the second quarter, was behind 51-38 with 5:07 left in the third quarter. But the Gladiators scored five straight free throws, and then got a basket from junior Michael Alvarez following a steal from sophomore Kyle Benton. Later in the stanza, Potts cut Gahr’s deficit to a bucket but Foothill’s Steven Browne put back his own rebound at the buzzer to give the Knights a 58-54 lead.
Less than a minute into the fourth quarter, Rob Filley’s three-pointer increased the margin to 61-56. Filley and Cooper Pickell each led Foothill with 20 points. However, it would be Foothill’s last field goal for the next three and a half minutes. That’s when Potts took over. He sank a pair of three-pointers and got help from Sales, who had struggled up to this point, as part of an 11-0 run.
Sales had been mired in a slump that saw him miss his first eight field goals, turn the ball over six times and collect four fouls, the last coming with 6:14 remaining in the contest. But his assist to Potts gave Gahr the lead for good at the 4:46 mark. Then 18 seconds later, Sales had a steal and scored his only field goal.
“Javonte is mentally tough to where he can get out of a slump,” Potts said. “I’m actually glad he got out of it because we needed him.”
“He didn’t have his best game but he played like a champion,” Roper said. “Sometimes that’s what you have to do. You have to respond when you’re not having a good game. Potts just decided in the quarterfinals and tonight that he was going to take over.”
The last basket from Potts gave Gahr its biggest lead of the game at 67-61 with 3:44 remaining. But he and Sales were true on their free throws the rest of the way.
The second place representatives from the Century League were staked to a 13-3 lead less than four minutes into the game. Potts later stated that he didn’t think his team was mentally ready.
But the Gladiators responded to score 11 straight points including the first of three perimeter baskets from Potts which gave Gahr its first lead at 14-13. Foothill answered that with a 20-4 run and it seemed that Gahr would lose in the semifinals for the second straight season.
“We weren’t playing our best ball but we haven’t given up all year,” Roper said. “This is a mentally tough group.”
The 32 points from Potts was one fewer than he scored three nights earlier at J.W. North. Potts, who is averaging 20.9 points per game, scored in the 30’s for the fourth time this season. Alvarez added 10 points while junior John Benson grabbed seven rebounds. Gahr was 50 percent from the field and at one point made seven straight baskets from the final 49 seconds of the third quarter to midway of the fourth quarter.
Gahr will try for a third time to win a CIF divisional championship, having also been denied in 1999. The Gladiators will hook up with the champions of the Suburban League, who upset top ranked Peninsula in the semifinals. Mayfair enters the game at 25-5 and is led by Dion Wright (16.4 points per game) and Brian Wright (10.4 ppg.). Gahr and Mayfair have played six common opponents-Artesia, Cathedral Catholic, Cerritos, La Mirada, Los Osos and Price-and are a combined 13-2 against those clubs.
“Me and Javonte and the rest of the team know it’s not about going to the championship game,” Potts said. “It’s about winning the championship.”
“What I’ve been through with my fiancé, the parents, the faculty and everybody has been really unbelievable,” Roper said. “They didn’t have to accept me but they did. I’m just happy to be a part of it.”