Los Gatos in DI final after edging Santa Teresa in OT
SUNNYVALE >> When this wild ride of a playoff semifinal ended, the public-address announcer asked the crowd to applaud both teams. Good call.
In a game of ebbs and flows, No. 2 seed Los Gatos outlasted third-seeded Santa Teresa 82-80 in overtime on Thursday at Fremont High in Sunnyvale to advance to today's Central Coast Section Division I final against topseeded Menlo-Atherton, a winner over Palo Alto in the other semifinal.
The title game will be played at Santa Clara High.
Scotty Brennan scored 31 points for Los Gatos, none bigger than the basket he made with his team trailing by two in the final 30 seconds of overtime.
The ball found its way to Brennan near the top of the key. He dribbled his defender into the low block, made a spin move and banked in a shot with his left hand as the whistle blew with 19.3 seconds on the clock.
Fouled, the son of former San Jose State football coach
Brent Brennan, who was in attendance, made the free throw to give Los Gatos an 81-80 lead.
“I was thinking I hope this goes in,” Brennan said. “I threw it up there and it went in. Thank God. They gave me the foul call. Made the free throw. Amazing support from our fans, making it loud for both teams. It was great.”
Santa Teresa had a shot to reclaim the lead at the other end when Evan Guillermo got separation from his defender at the top of the perimeter. But his 3-point attempt hit off the back of the rim, and Nolan Koch grabbed the rebound for Los Gatos.
Koch made one free throw with 0.8 seconds left to finish with 18 points and complete the scoring.
Los Gatos (20-6) secured its spot in the Division I final for the second consecutive season and clinched a NorCal berth in the process.
Santa Teresa (19-7) is hoping to receive one of the three NorCal bids the CCS has for semifinal teams that don't advance to a final. Adam Nakai scored 22 points for the Saints.