 |
| Vikings guard Behzad Hashemi (right) takes the ball out for La Jolla in the closing moments against favored Eastlake. (Photos by Ed Piper) |
Grit.
The kind you taste in your mouth, as you grind it between your teeth.
That's the kind of grit La Jolla's basketball team has been playing on, as it has beaten two favored opponents the last two nights in rough, physical, even snarling games.
The latest is the Vikings' 51-41 victory over Eastlake in the Hilltop Invitational Friday night, Nov. 30, as a short-handed roster with only three subs was able to break out to a 20-point lead over a Titan squad expected to annihilate them, then grittily resisted down the stretch to preserve the win.
Point guard Behzad Hashemi hasn't been doing a lot of smiling the last two nights, especially after Coach Paul Baranowski's squad lost its three games in the Montgomery tournament to start the season two weeks ago.
On Friday night, the quick 5'10" guard was fouled hard and knocked to the floor by University City's 6'6" Benito Hurtado on a drive in the second half. Hashemi didn't take it lying down, barking something to his opponent that prompted a warning from the referee.
La Jolla won that contest going away, 63-43. But Friday night, with Eastlake showing jitters in its first game of the season and not doing a thing right through much of the first half, a 26-6 Viking lead wasn't going to be the final word.
 |
| Eastlake's Kevin Bateman shoots a free throw in the second quarter, the Vikings already pulling away, 22-6. |
Coach Marlon King's contingent suddenly showed signs of life and whittled the lead to nine at halftime on an 11-point spurt. The Titans narrowed the gap to four, at 36-32, at the start of the fourth quarter.
But then the resolute Hashemi was there guiding the La Jolla attack at the end. Repeatedly, he got fouled in the backcourt, as Eastlake was forced to do so to stop the clock.
And repeatedly, Behzad delivered on the free throws. And even if he wasn't snarling, he wasn't grinning.
It helped that 6'4" teammate Nick Hulquist, who had been missing in action the first four games, regained some of his touch and helped Hashemi with the lifting.
Also, sophomore forward Christian Gamboa again played like he belonged, making determined contributions.
Besides Hashemi's four free throws in the last 18.7 seconds, Gamboa, until now a poor free thrower, took Baranowski's advice called out from the bench, "Use your legs," to sink two free throws with 2:41 left.
Even hard-working Langston Aron, who favors defense and rebounding, got into the act by hitting one of two free throws in crunch time. His came with 45.8 on the clock.
You watched, holding your breath, as the Viking lead, only four with Titan Jaylen Reynolds' three-pointer to begin the fourth period, went up to 12 on buckets by Jett Wilson and Aron (two by the latter), in addition to a pair of free throws by reserve Harry Kaseff.
You wondered whether La Jolla could hold the lead. And they did, by the 10-point final margin. On grit, the grainy kind.
The Vikings' scoring was extremely well-distributed. Hashemi finished with 10 points. Gamboa and Aron each had 9, Hulquist 8, and Max Raulston 6.
No comments:
Post a Comment