As Vinny DeLorenzo was sent to the free throw line with his team
up by two with 12.7 seconds left in the championship game of the
Bob Hagen Memorial Tournament Saturday, the senior just tried to
breathe.
Gilroy – As Vinny DeLorenzo was sent to the free throw line with his team up by two with 12.7 seconds left in the championship game of the Bob Hagen Memorial Tournament Saturday, the senior just tried to breathe.
I thought, if I make them both, it’s a two-possession game. I just knew both had to go in,” DeLorenzo said. “I was just concentrating on breathing.”
While Monterey fans tried to throw the senior’s concentration with yells of “Choke!” from the stands, DeLorenzo calmly drained both free throws, putting the Mustangs up by four. After Monterey’s Michael Phillips took the ball to the other end for a lay up to cut Gilroy’s lead 57-55, DeLorenzo was fouled again when he received the inbound pass. DeLorenzo sank two more free throws with one second left to secure the 59-55 win and Gilroy’s first Hagen Memorial title since 2001 and the first of Bud Ogden’s career at the helm for the Mustangs.
“Vinny stepped up,” Ogden said. “What he does may not always show in the stats, but he’s like having another coach out on the floor.”
The win boosted Gilroy to 7-6 going into tonight’s home game against Monte Vista Christian. DeLorenzo, who was named to the All-Tournament team along with sophomore center Jason Conrad and senior guard Jeremy Teschera, finished with 12 points. Conrad, who finished with 15 points, 12 rebounds, five blocks and four assists, was named Tournament MVP.
Though Gilroy built a comfortable lead after three quarters, a Monterey comeback late in the fourth quarter nearly spoiled Gilroy’s title hopes. After senior guard Jeremy Teschera drove down the middle of the lane for a lay up, Gilroy held a comfortable 53-41 lead with 4:35 left. But the Toreadors heated up, scoring nine unanswered points to get within 53-50. It wasn’t until senior guard Dominik Wilkins banked in a straight-on shot from the free throw line under pressure with under a minute to go that Gilroy scored again. It proved to be an important shot because Monterey’s Anthony Frank answered with a three-pointer at the other end to make it 55-53 Gilroy with 38 seconds to go.
“I said, ‘I’m just going to step up and make the shot,'” Wilkins said. “I don’t know how it went in.”
