By Kim Ly
In a tense match this Wednesday night, the boys’ basketball team overpowered the Edison Chargers 60-52. With this win, the boys advance into the second round of Division 2AA CIF-SS playoffs.
The game was led by senior Jeremiah Davis with a game-high of 23 points alongside nine rebounds. Other notable players include senior Preston Amarillo with 15 points and seven rebounds and junior Roddie Anderson with 11 points, seven rebounds and four steals.
“I think we could’ve done a lot better defensively but a win is a win,” assistant coach Timicha Kirby said.
The game opened up with Amarillo getting the Barons the tip-off before subsequently scoring the first points of the match with a layup. Amarillo continued to score throughout the remainder of the first quarter with a layup at 6 minutes and 33 seconds and a jump shot at 3 minutes and 35 seconds. Players junior Aden Casarez and sophomore MaCarhy Morris also helped further the Barons’ lead with layups of their own. The clock stood at exactly 2 minutes when Anderson stole the ball from the Chargers and made a layup, making the score 14-8. Unfortunately, the Chargers would begin to steadily catch up in the remainder of the quarter.
The first quarter ended 15-13.
The second quarter opened up with a free throw for Edison. The Chargers would continue to dominate the remainder of the quarter as the boys struggled to finish their shots. At 5 minutes and 29 seconds, the score stood at 15-18 with the Barons down by three points. After Edison successfully scored another shot, Amarillo gave the Barons the first point of the quarter with a layup, bringing the score to 17-20. The clock stood at 3 minutes and 34 seconds when the Barons called a full time-out; at this point, the boys were down 18-22.
Immediately after the time-out, Davis made a layup and subsequently got two free throws. This was the beginning of Davis’s near-perfect free throw streak throughout the game; he’d ultimately miss one but would successfully make 17 shots.
The clock stood at 1 minute and 20 seconds when Anderson stole the ball from the Chargers and subsequently dunked, tying the score 24-24. However, a foul from the Barons provided Edison several free throws in return at 0.4 seconds; they made one out of three shots, putting them back in the lead and allowing them to go into halftime 24-25.
“We have played [Edison] in league twice [already], so we’re very familiar with them … it’s always going to be a challenging game because it’s a rivalry and they know both our strengths and weaknesses,” Kirby said.
After halftime, the third quarter opened up with a tense atmosphere between the two teams. Both sides played very aggressively as they struggled to overpower the opposing team. The first point of the quarter went to Edison, though a few moments later at 6 minutes and 7 seconds, Casarez made a layup, bringing the score 26-27. From here, a fast-paced back-and-forth would continue as both sides struggled to widen the score margin. For every layup the boys attempted, Edison attemped one in return and vice-versa.
However, at 5 minutes and 9 seconds, the game began to shift in the boys’ favor after a layup from Morris, tying the score 30-30. Several more shots from Morris alongside Amarillo and Davis would bring the Barons ahead 38-35. 1 minute and 4 seconds were remaining on the clock when Edison fouled, giving Casarez two free throws; he made one out of his two shots, letting the boys go into the fourth quarter 39-35.
“We started off real slow—real sluggish—but I think we did pick it up at the end—which was definitely good … we all communicated, helped each other and we had great bench energy,” sophomore E.J. Bryson said.
The final quarter continued in a similar manner as the third quarter: fast-paced and aggressive. A few seconds in, Anderson made a layup, furthering the Barons’ lead 41-35. Both sides committed several fouls throughout the quarter, resulting in a myriad of free throws.
1 minute and 16 seconds remained on the clock when Davis gained two free throws and subsequently made both of them, putting the score at 51-45. He would gain and successfully score six more free throws due to personal fouls from Edison at 45.1 seconds, 35.3 seconds and 16.6 seconds.
The clock ticked down to 5.8 seconds when a foul from Edison gave Davis the chance to successfully shoot two final free throws, making the score 60-50. Though Edison managed to score a layup in the final 5 seconds, the Barons held onto their lead and won with a victory of 60-52.
“I think we pulled together as a team at the right time. Jeremiah as a senior and as the MVP of the league, [he] pulled in and made 10 free throws in a row for us. Even though we didn’t play exceptionally well on defense, our leadership and our seniors were able to pull it off,” Kirby said.
The boys’ next CIF match will be away against Compton High School this Friday.
