Boys Basketball:
Bonita dropped its fourth consecutive Palomares League game on Wednesday night.
And the ending was both dramatic and controversial.
Leading 58-57 with 5.5 seconds to play, Ayala missed the front end at the free-throw line.
Josh Kim got the rebound, drove the length of the court, got fouled and made two free-throws with four-tenths of a second remaining.
The Bearcats led 59-58.
But the drama had just begun.
Ayala senior Linus Lo caught the inbound pass from Gavin Wolf at the half-court line, turned to his right, flipped the ball towards the hoop and it hit nothing but net.
The officials walked to the middle of the court, discussed it, and then gave the signal that the basket would count.
It set off an Ayala celebration and disbelief amongst those in Bonita green.
You can watch the video and draw form your own opinion as to whether Lo got the ball off in time.
Fast forward to the 2:13 mark to get to the heart of the matter.
What is for certain, however, is the Bulldogs left La Verne with a 61-59 victory.
As disappointed as they were when Lo’s shot wasn’t waived off, Bonita coach Tim Godley would be the first to tell you that a pair of last-minute turnovers were costly in Wednesday’s defeat.
That’s how honorable coaches go about their business.
With three games to play, AHS sits in third and two-games ahead of both Alta Loma and Bonita.
They trail Glendora by two games, but face the Tartans a week from Thursday at GHS in the regular season finale.
Dylan Victorio led Ayala with 13 points.
Linus Lo and Gavin Wolf both scored 10 points apiece in the win.
Lo actually said in his interview that while he practices that shot (and his coach confirmed that), he didn’t have a feeling that it was going in.
His teammates, Dylan Victorio, said he got a good view of the release and felt good about it finishing the way it did.
Josh Kim was terrific for Bonita and scored a game-high 22 points.
Jake Matsuo had 12 for the Bearcats and Jordan Kenwood scored 11 points.
Box Score:
A: 12-17-11-21-(61)
B: 17-15-11-16-(59)
Ayala scoring: Dylan Victorio 13, Linus Lo 10, Gavin Wolf 10, Jaden Gamez 9, Christian Martinez 6, Jeremy Serrano 5, Joshiah Yang 4, Joshua Townsell 2, Joel Gorospe 2
Bonita scoring: Josh Kim 22, Jake Matsuo 12, Jordan Kenwood 11, Sean Shibasaki 6, Hunter Smith 5, Justin Kearns 3
Wednesday’s Palomares League Scores:
Colony 62, Claremont 32
GHS 68, Alta Loma 39
Ayala 61, Bonita 59
Palomares League Standings:
Colony (18-6, 7-0)
Glendora (18-7, 6-1)
Ayala (13-10, 4-3)
Bonita (14-10, 2-5)
Alta Loma (9-13, 2-5)
Claremont (3-22, 0-7)
Friday’s Palomares League Schedule:
Claremont at Bonita
Ayala at Alta Loma
Glendora at Colony
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