Staff Writer
Photos by Tucker Judkins
The boys’ varsity basketball team fell to the San Gabriel Matadors at home in a close 64-61 loss this Friday, January 8. The Tigers are now 8-9 in their preseason.
San Gabriel came out red hot in the beginning of the game. A 7-0 run over South Pas solidified the Matadors’ momentum starting the first quarter of the matchup. After a 9-17 quarter, the Tigers’ slow start in the first quarter would put more pressure on the home team going into the second quarter.
Both teams headed into the second quarter in a tightly contested back and forth game. After a stop on defense, sophomore Danny Rios scored a layup along with a free throw after being fouled. South Pas slowly started to crawl back on the scoreboard with junior Stone Franco and sophomore Jaylen Park knocking down three points each. The Tigers’ 25 points in the quarter gave South Pas a 34-32 lead after a buzzer beater layup by Rios ended the half.
Coming back into the third quarter, South Pas suffered a scoring drought with only seven points in period. Four consecutive three pointers by San Gabriel gave the Matadors a decisive 10 point lead over the fatigued Tigers. Rios and Franco both contributed easy buckets for South Pas to keep the scoreboard at 41-46 at the third quarter.
The Tigers desperation for scoring opportunities in the fourth quarter paved the way for junior Matt Scholtz to knock down three points after being fouled. San Gabriel fired back with two three pointers tallied up on the scoreboard, giving the Matadors the advantage in the game. As regulation began to run down, senior Ray Arismendez sunk a clutch three pointer from behind the arc to put South Pas closer in erasing the gap at 62-59. However it wasn’t enough for the Tigers to overcome as two points from free throws gave San Gabriel a five point lead and with only 6 seconds left in regulation, the deficit proved too large for South Pas. Scholtz scored a two point putback for a final score of 61-64.
South Pasadena enters Rio Hondo League against San Marino High School away on Wednesday, January 13. South Pas displayed a 1-1 record against the Titans in the previous year.
Statistics:
Matt Scholtz: 20 points
Ray Arismendez: 16 points
Stone Franco: 8 points
Lucas Fox: 5 points
Jaylen Park: 3 points
