Story by Gavin Bartolome & Owen Hou
Staff Writer

Photos by Sunny Choi & Mac Shropshire
Staff Photographers

The Tigers’ game against the San Marino Titans came down to the last 19 seconds, with the Tigers narrowly slipping ahead with a tie-breaking layup in the last moments of the game and winning 57-55 on Wednesday, Feb. 7. Although the Tigers managed to carve out a 10-point lead in the first half, numerous turnovers by the team allowed the Titans to follow closely. Both teams stepped up their performances towards the end of the game, with the Tigers narrowly defending their lead to end the game.

“I thought everybody was excited. Sometimes you can get too high for this game, so I have to try to figure out how to balance them out. But overall, they did well,” Head Coach Ernest Baskerville said.

Breaking past the Tigers’ man-on-man defense, the Titans quickly banked a two-pointer and two free throws to kickoff the game. However, the Tigers rebounded, striking back with a two- and three-pointer, setting the score 5-4 and turning the tables on the Titans. Soon after, the Tigers immediately jumped for a rebound, freeing senior forward Jack Madison for a challenging layup that weaved past the defense’s hands. Through the Tigers’ push, their steadfast defense that stuck to the Titans was crucial in taking some pressure off offense to play actively. Added onto a couple more jump shots, the Tigers created a 12-4 lead early on.

Despite the Tigers’ initial momentum, a timeout by the Titans allowed the team to stage a comeback toward the end of the first quarter. Starting with a deep 40-foot jump shot, the Titans chipped away at the Tigers, whose enthusiasm was leading to constant turnovers. A quick free throw and two-pointer by the Titans ended the quarter, only met by a corner three-pointer by senior point guard Miles Nowe with the Tigers leading 15-10.

The second quarter began with a back-and-forth between the two teams, until eventually Madison scored a layup, pushing the Tigers ahead even further 17-10. Right after, the Titans hit the ball out of bounds, resulting in Nowe sinking a three and bringing the Tigers a whole 10 points ahead of the Titans, 20-10, due to the dazed Titan defense. From there, both teams continued to trade points and defend, with neither pulling ahead or falling behind.

However, in the last part of the quarter, the Tigers began to pull further ahead, accumulating points while shutting down the Titan offensive and holding a firm grasp on the quarter. 

In a turn of events, however, with less than 10 seconds on the clock, the Tigers fumbled the ball out of bounds, giving the Titans a chance to sprint down the court and sink a two, catching up to the Tigers 28-21 as the second quarter’s timer hit zero.

After halftime, the Titans jumped into the third quarter with a promising start, opening with a layup that inched them closer to the Tigers, 28-23. From there, they continued to slowly accumulate points while denying the Tiger offense, eventually coming up just short of the Tigers with a three-pointer, 28-27.

This sudden gain seemed to awaken the Tiger offense, as the Tigers regained control of the quarter, expanding the point gap even further and locking down the Titans on defense. 

Although this remained for most of the quarter, the Titans began to zone in, making the score 40-33 with two three-pointers in the last plays of the quarter. From there, both teams continued to fight each other in a struggle for what remained of the quarter, ending with the Tigers in the lead 43-35.

The Tigers brought the ball into play for the final quarter, as Madison set up for two jump shots within the three-point line to boost the Tigers’ lead by four to 47-35. Nevertheless, the Tigers’ defense had become sluggish over the strenuous course of the game, allowing the Titans to create opportunities for more shots. Quickly, the Titans racked up nine points through cleanly woven passes while senior point guard Sebastian Martinez was the only player to score for the Tigers with a two-pointer. In contrast to the first half, the Tigers’ sparse defense allowed the Titans to freely take shots. With the Titans now only trailing by two points at 49-47, the Tigers’ defense would be crucial to prevent a disastrous upset.

Both teams sprang to life as they realized how unstable the Tigers’ crumbling foothold was. After Madison made one free throw, the Tigers missed a golden opportunity to create distance, turning over the ball to the Titans who were then fouled, giving them two free throw points to put the Tigers ahead by one point at 50-49. With Madison’s single free throw, the Tigers had an opportunity to win. After both teams scored two points, Nowe helped to ease off the Tigers’ tension, swishing a clean three-pointer jump shot with a score of 55-51.

However, unsuccessful offensive plays continued to plague the Tigers. Panicked, the Tigers’ movements became more rushed, leading to the Titans being fouled twice, just enough to sink in a catastrophic four points to tie the game at 55-55 with a minute left in the game.

In the last 19 seconds of the game, Martinez was chosen for the Tigers’ last stand. Taking the ball in, the two opposing teams locked eyes with each other in a cold glaze as he anxiously awaited the right time to strike. Then, with a flurry of motion going as quick as it came, Martinez set up a seamless layup. Each layer of the Titans’ defense crumpled as he bobbed and weaved through the frey, sending the ball into the backboard. One bounce, two, and then, a quiet swish on the third, the definitive blow to end the game with a final score of 57-55 as the Tigers claimed victory.

“I know times have been hard right now … and [the Tigers] really brought me a brotherhood … so I’m really thankful and really glad that I got to do this with this group of guys,” Martinez said.

On top of their victory, the seniors on the basketball team were also honored during Senior Night, where they celebrated with their families and received framed jerseys to commemorate the occasion. The seniors on the team this season are Sebastian Martinez, Kevin Hu, Jacob Arias, Miles Nowe, Trevor Cohen, Jack Madison, Victor Tardue, Lucas Miller, and Oni Balogun.

The Tigers ended first in league with a 9-1 overall record. They qualified for the CIF Southern Section Division 2AA playoffs and will play their first round game on Wednesday, Feb. 12 at Newport Harbor High School at 5 p.m.