The Stockdale boys basketball team spent all Tuesday night chasing after the lead. When the Mustangs finally got it, they didn't know what to do with it.
Karsten Adeleye broke a lengthy shooting slump by hitting a corner 3-pointer to put Stockdale up 61-60 in overtime, its first lead over Centennial since the start of the second quarter, and Brooks Dawson added a pair of free throws.
From then on, however, the Mustangs came up empty from the line. Clinging to a two-point lead with 40.5 seconds left, they suffered a five-second violation on an inbound, setting up a game-tying layup in the post by Jay Jay Jones, converted through a foul.
Jaxton Santiago put back a teammate's missed tip-in on Jones' ensuing free throw, giving the Golden Hawks the lead once and for all.
Centennial set the tone for a thrilling South Yosemite River League schedule to come, knocking off Stockdale 67-63 on the Mustangs' home court.
"Our boys fought through adversity," Centennial coach Stephon Carter said. "Our whole season led up to this moment, to be honest, and that's what it came down to."
After a trio of deep 3-pointers from Jayden Abuyen helped the Golden Hawks build a nine-point lead at halftime, they extended it to as many as 14 points early in the third quarter, and still led 56-45 in the fourth after an Elijah West stepback 3 and a Rippen Gill layup.
Stockdale responded with 11 straight points, including six from Joaquin Rios. Jones briefly put Centennial ahead with a spinning layup, and the Golden Hawks even got the ball back with less than 30 seconds left, but Myles Elam forced a tie-up on an inbound and, after a foul, Rios sank two free throws to send the game to overtime.
"Nothing's going to be given, especially from a great team in Stockdale," Carter said. "They're 16-1 for a reason: they don't know how to lose. They were down 10, 12, they kept clawing back."
Rios led all scorers with 26 points, and fellow Mustang Jhace Boston added 18 despite spending much of the night in foul trouble. Indeed, both teams struggled with fouls in a physical matchup, with Centennial accumulating nine in the third quarter alone. Golden Hawks star Rippen Gill fouled out with 15 points with four minutes remaining, forcing teammates to step up.
He was later joined on the sidelines by teammate Donn Bolton, who picked up a fifth foul going for a loose ball moments after putting Centennial up 60-58 in overtime, as well as Stockdale's Boston and Dawson.
"We just have some guys that stepped up in (Gill's) absence, and they were ready for the moment, honestly," Carter said. "It was their time, I feel."
Jones led Centennial with 16 points, none bigger than the two he fought for to tie the game with 36.6 seconds left in overtime. Abuyen had 13 — 11 in the second quarter and the last two free throws — and Santiago was quiet all night, but rose above a sea of hands for the go-ahead putback when it mattered most.
"What he does does not come on the scouting report, it's not on the game plan, he just makes plays," Carter said.
On the whole it was a game of ebbs and flows, as Rios opened it up scoring with ease until Carter called a timeout with the Golden Hawks trailing 8-2. That early stretch was the best Stockdale looked all game until the very end of regulation.
Santiago had an initial chance to be the hero when he caught an inbound under the basket with less than two seconds left in the fourth quarter, but he came up short on a fadeaway.
The roles were reversed at the end of overtime when, following Santiago's heroic score, Adeleye missed a wild layup.
Stockdale fell to 16-2 and will travel to Liberty Thursday, while Centennial moved to 14-3 ahead of a non-league matchup with Fresno-Central on Saturday.
Reporter Henry Greenstein can be reached at 661-395-7374. Follow him on Twitter: @HenryGreenstein.
