Late rally comes up short in loss to unbeaten West Hills
Gilroy – West Hills College’s Brandon Brown was an early Division 1 signee with Utah State University.
He showed why Thursday night, hitting one big shot after another as the unbeaten Falcons held off Gavilan 65-64 at Bud Ottmar Memorial Gym.
It was the only home game for the Rams in their first 16 contests, and they nearly pulled off a remarkable come-from-behind win. In fact, Ryan Hayes got off a shot with one second left that spun off the rim.
“I had a good look,” said Hayes, at 5-8 the smallest player on the floor. “We kept fighting back and played much better in the second half.”
In the first half, Gavilan (1-3) couldn’t get anything going offensively. After getting its only lead of the half, 7-6, on Eric Van Vliet’s dunk with 15:58 left, the Rams’ offense virtually shut down. West Hills (5-0) reeled off 10 unanswered points to gain the upper hand.
Gavilan closed within 21-20 on a Nick McLaurin drive with 4:45 left. But the Falcons used a 10-1 run to lead 31-21 at halftime. The Rams had five more turnovers (13) than field goals in the first half.
Daniel Wynn led an early charge that got Gavilan within 34-32, scoring six points. West Hills moved in front 52-43 with 9:23 remaining before treys by Luke Murrell and Van Vliet shaved the deficit. The Rams didn’t get the lead until Jessie LoBue scored on an assist from Hayes with 2:08 left for a 62-61 lead.
Gavilan got the ball back, but Brown scored off a steal and layin. Hayes answered with a drive with 22 seconds left for a 64-63 lead. The Falcons isolated Brown and he completed a 21-point, eight-rebound performance by scoring with eight seconds left.
“He missed some shots he normally makes but he made the big ones at the end,” said West Hills coach Mark Arce of Brown. “He does a lot of things well for us.”
Arce was impressed with the Rams’ comeback.
“They competed well in the second half,” Arce said. “A bounce here or bounce there and they would have won. Their guys play hard.”
Van Vliet was a force in the middle with 17 points. The 7-0 center blocked three shots but altered twice that many. McLaurin was the only other Gavilan player in double figures with 10 points. Wynn scored all eight of his points in the second half and led the Rams with 12 rebounds, four assists and four steals. LoBue added 11 rebounds.
“I am very proud of the way the team fought back,” Gavilan coach Tito Addison said. “I thought the guys battled well in the second half. They are 5-0 for a reason, and we put ourselves in a position to win.”
WEST HILLS (65) – Branham 9, Campos 0, B. Brown 22, Lopez 9, Grimes 8, J. Brown 4, Carter 2, Olanrewaju 11. Totals 27 8-13 65.
GAVILAN (64) – Hayes 4, Van Vliet 17, Chambliss 3, Evans 0, Hills 8, Murrell 3, Wortham 2, Wynn 8, LoBue 9, McLaurin 10. Totals 25 5-10 64.
Halftime: West Hills 31-21.
3-point goals: WH-B. Brown, Branham, Lopez. GAV-Hills 2, Van Vliet, Chambliss, Murrell, LoBue, McLaurin.
